Description
Plan, release, and monitor airline flights to ensure safety, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency. Coordinate with pilots, ATC, maintenance, and stations; analyze weather, NOTAMs, performance, and fuel; issue flight releases, manage reroutes and diversions, and maintain operational control and records.
- • Implement operational control and safety procedures for dispatched flights.
- • Prepare, file, and amend flight plans with appropriate ATC authorities.
- • Analyze weather, NOTAMs, and airspace constraints to select safe, efficient routes and alternates.
- • Calculate fuel loads, reserves, and tankering; verify performance and weight-and-balance limits.
- • Issue flight releases and preflight briefings to flight crews.
- • Monitor flight progress and maintain continuous ACARS/voice communication with crews.
- • Provide enroute updates on weather, turbulence, NOTAMs, and operational advisories.
- • Coordinate reroutes, delays, diversions, and recovery during irregular operations.
- • Collaborate with maintenance control on MEL/CDL items and aircraft availability.
- • Coordinate ATC flow programs, slot times, and route clearances.
- • Liaise with stations, ramp, fueling, load planning, and catering to meet departure requirements.
- • Adjust equipment swaps, payload plans, and schedule changes with network and crew scheduling.
- • Maintain dispatch logs, flight releases, and flight following records for regulatory compliance.
- • Receive, transmit, and control operational messages and company communications.
- • Maintain and distribute flight planning documents, weather briefs, NOTAMs, and charts.
- • Use dispatch and flight planning software, navigation databases, and performance tools.
- • Plan ETOPS/EDTO and international operations, including alternates and ETPs when applicable.
- • Coordinate deicing and anti-icing decisions and holdover times with crews and stations.
- • Support emergency and security response, including in-flight and medical events.
- • Communicate departure, arrival, delay, and status updates to operations control and leadership.
- • Ensure crew and aircraft legality prior to release and throughout the operation.
- • Participate in training and mentoring of dispatch and operations staff.
- • Review postflight data to improve safety, fuel efficiency, and on-time performance.
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Supply Chain & Transportation
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
