¿Qué tengo que saber para ser despachador? Materias, centros, costes...

Hola amigos. Últimamente he recibido varias consultas sobre cómo poder llegar a ser despachador de vuelos. Que si recomiendo algún centro en EEUU, o en España, o en otro país. Igualmente, me consultan cuál es la formación mínima de un despachador y el estándar que se utiliza.

En mi opinión existen dos centros en EEUU (que es el país en el que yo ejerzo) que son dignos de mención. Lo importante, en mi opinión, es obtener el certificado, la escuela a la que hayas ido no te va a dar un trabajo. Ahora bien, un buen profesor puede hacer maravillas para facilitar el entendimiento y comprensión en profundidad de la materia.

Sheffield:

Es una veterana escuela, establecida en Florida, con muy buena fama http://www.sheffield.com/ 

El curso básico consta de 5 semanas y cuesta unos cinco mil dólares.

Jeppesen Sanderson:

Decir Jeppesen es hablar del estándar de la aviación, así que su ventaja estriba en que conocerás muchos de los productos que ellos distribuyen mundialmente. www.jeppesen.com.

El curso básico esta estructurado en 6 semanas y cuesta aproximadamente unos cuatro mil quinientos dólares.

 Una vez hemos hablado de las escuelas y los precios, quiero haceros saber los requisitos mínimos y aptitudes requeridas para ser despachador aéreo. Ya que he estado hablando de EEUU hasta ahora comenzaremos por aquí. La FAA (Administración Federal de Aviación) tiene varios documentos relativos a la formación y requisitos para poder ejercer la profesión de despachador en EEUU.
El principal, dentro de Código de Regulación Federal número 14 (14 CFR), se encuentra la parte o capítulo 121, que habla de aerolíneas con vuelos regulares, la subaprte M, P y U , además de la parte o capítulo 65, subcapítulo o apartado C que dice:

§ 65.51 Certificate required.

(a) No person may act as an aircraft dispatcher (exercising responsibility with the pilot in command in the operational control of a flight) in connection with any civil aircraft in air commerce unless that person has in his or her personal possession an aircraft dispatcher certificate issued under this subpart.

(b) Each person who holds an aircraft dispatcher certificate must present it for inspection upon the request of the Administrator or an authorized representative of the National Transportation Safety Board, or of any Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer.

Habla de los requerimientos mínimos de edad y condición para ser despachador de vuelos:

§ 65.53 Eligibility requirements: General.

(a) To be eligible to take the aircraft dispatcher knowledge test, a person must be at least 21 years of age.

(b) To be eligible for an aircraft dispatcher certificate, a person must—

 

(1) Be at least 23 years of age;

(2) Be able to read, speak, write, and understand the English language;

(3) Pass the required knowledge test prescribed by § 65.55 of this part;

(4) Pass the required practical test prescribed by § 65.59 of this part; and

(5) Comply with the requirements of § 65.57 of this part.

 

Refiere los conocimientos mínimos que ha de tener un despachador:

 

§ 65.55 Knowledge requirements.

(a) A person who applies for an aircraft dispatcher certificate must pass a knowledge test on the following aeronautical knowledge areas:

(1) Applicable Federal Aviation Regulations of this chapter that relate to airline transport pilot privileges, limitations, and flight operations;

(2) Meteorology, including knowledge of and effects of fronts, frontal characteristics, cloud formations, icing, and upper-air data;

(3) General system of weather and NOTAM collection, dissemination, interpretation, and use;

(4) Interpretation and use of weather charts, maps, forecasts, sequence reports, abbreviations, and symbols;

(5) National Weather Service functions as they pertain to operations in the National Airspace System;

(6) Windshear and microburst awareness, identification, and avoidance;

(7) Principles of air navigation under instrument meteorological conditions in the National Airspace System;

(8) Air traffic control procedures and pilot responsibilities as they relate to enroute operations, terminal area and radar operations, and instrument departure and approach procedures;

(9) Aircraft loading, weight and balance, use of charts, graphs, tables, formulas, and computations, and their effect on aircraft performance;

(10) Aerodynamics relating to an aircraft's flight characteristics and performance in normal and abnormal flight regimes;

(11) Human factors;

(12) Aeronautical decision making and judgment; and

(13) Crew resource management, including crew communication and coordination.

(b) The applicant must present documentary evidence satisfactory to the administrator of having passed an aircraft dispatcher knowledge test within the preceding 24 calendar months.

Y especifica que:

§ 65.59 Skill requirements.

An applicant for an aircraft dispatcher certificate must pass a practical test given by the Administrator, with respect to any one type of large aircraft used in air carrier operations. The practical test must be based on the aircraft dispatcher practical test standards, as published by the FAA, on the items outlined in appendix A of this part.

 

Habla de un entrenamiento mínimo de 200 horas:

 

§ 65.61 Aircraft dispatcher certification courses: Content and minimum hours.

(a) An approved aircraft dispatcher certification course must:

(1) Provide instruction in the areas of knowledge and topics listed in appendix A of this part;

(2) Include a minimum of 200 hours of instruction.

(b) An applicant for approval of an aircraft dispatcher course must submit an outline that describes the major topics and subtopics to be covered and the number of hours proposed for each.

(c) Additional subject headings for an aircraft dispatcher certification course may also be included, however the hours proposed for any subjects not listed in appendix A of this part must be in addition to the minimum 200 course hours required in paragraph (a) of this section.

(d) For the purpose of completing an approved course, a student may substitute previous experience or training for a portion of the minimum 200 hours of training. The course operator determines the number of hours of credit based on an evaluation of the experience or training to determine if it is comparable to portions of the approved course curriculum. The credit allowed, including the total hours and the basis for it, must be placed in the student's record required by § 65.70(a) of this part.

 

 

La OACI también publico el "Training Manual Doc 7192-AN/857 Part D-3"como recomendación y estándar mundial. Recomienda, en su preámbulo, que la formación sea divida en dos partes: en primer lugar una teórica y en segundo una aplicación práctica de los conocimientos adquiridos. Así se desarrolla la recomendación:

 

 

 1 

"denotes  a basic knowledge  of  a  subject. Trainees should  have a basic understanding  of the  subject but  are not  expected to apply that knowledge"

2

"denotes knowledge  of  the subject and the ability, where  applicable,  to apply it in practice with the help of  reference materials and instructions"

3

"denotes  a thorough knowledge  of the subject and the ability to apply  it  with  speed and accuracy"

4

"denotes extensive knowledge  of  the subject and the  ability  to  apply procedures derived from it with judgernent appropriate to the circunstancies"

PHASE ONE -BASIC  KNOWLEDGE

- Civil air law and regulations [30Hours]

1. Certification of operators (2)
2. The Convention of International Civil Aviation (2)
3. International air transport issues adressed by the Chicago Convention (2)
4. The International Civil Aviation Organization (2)
5. Responsibility of aircraft airworthiness (3)
6. Regulatory provisions of the flight manual (3)
7. The aircraft minimum equipment list (3)
8. The operations manual (3)

 - Aviation indoctrination [12Hours]

1. Regulatory (3)
2. Aviation terminology and terms of reference (3)
3. Theory of flight and flight operations (2)
4. Aircraft propulsion systems (2)
5. Aircraft systems (2)

- Aircraft mass (weight) and performance [27Hours]

1. Basic principles for flight safety (3)
2. Basic mass and speed limitations (3)
3. Take-off runway requirements (3)
4. Climb performance requirements (3)
5. Landing runway requirements (3)
6. Buffet boundary speed limitations (3)

- Navigation [24hours]

1. Position and distance; time (3)
2. True, magnetic and compass direction; gyro heading reference and gryd direction (2)
3. Introduction to chart projections (2)
4. ICAO chart requirements (3)
5. Charts used by a typical operator (3)
6. Measurement of airspeeds; track and ground speed (3)
7. Use of slide-rules, computers and scientific calculators (3)
8. Measurement of aircraft altitude (3)
9. Point of no return; critical point; general determination of aircraft position (3)
10. introduction to radio navigation; ground-based radar and direction-finding stations; relative bearings; VORDME type radio navigation; instrument landing systems (2)
11. Navigation procedures (3)
12. ICAO  CNS/ATM systems (an overview) (1)

 - Air traffic management [39Hours]

1. Introduction to air trafic management (2)
2. Controlled airspace (3)
3. Flight rules (3)
4. ATC clearance; ATC requirements for flight plans; aircraft reports (3)
5. Flight information service (FIS)  (3)
6. Alerting service and search and rescue (3)
7. Communications services (mobile, fïxed) (3)
8. Aeronautical information service (AIS) (3)
9. Aerodrome and airport services  (3)

-Meteorology [42Hours]

1. Atmosphere; atmospheric temperature and humidity (2)  
2. Atmospheric pressure; pressure-wind relationships (2)
3. Winds near the Earth's surface; wind in the free atmosphere; turbulence (3)
4. Vertical motion in the atmosphere; formation of clouds and precipitation (2)
5. Thunderstorms; aircraft icing (3)
6. Visibility and RVR; volcanic ash (3)
7. Surface observations; upper-air observations; station model (3)
8. Air masses and fronts; frontal depressions (2)
9. Weather atfionts and otherparts of the frontal depression; other types of pressure systems (2)
10. General climatology; weather in the tropics (ITCZ)  (1)
11. Aeronaurical meteorological reports; analysis of surface and upper-air charts (3)
12. Prognostic charts; aeronautical forecasts (3)
13. Meteorological service for international air navigation (4)
14. Field trip to local meteorological office (2)

 - Mass (weight) and balance control [27Hours]

1. Introduction to mass and balance (3)
2. Load planning (3)
3. Calculation of payload and loadsheet preparation (3)
4. Aircraft balance and longitudinal stability (3)
5. Moments and balance (3)
6. The structural aspects of aircraft loading (3)
7. Dangerous goods and other special cargo (3)
8. Issuing loading instructions (3)

- Transport of Dangerous Goods by air [9Hours]

1. Introduction
2. Dangerous goods, emergency and abnormal situations (3)
3. Source documents (3)
4. Responsibilities (3)
5. Emergency procedures (3)

- Flight Planning [18Hours]

1. Introduction to flight planning (2)
2. Turbo-jet aircraft cruise control methods (3)
3. Flight planning charts and tables for turbo-jet aircraft (3)
4. Calculation of flight time and minimum fuel for turbo-jet aircraft (3)
5. Route selection (3)
6. Flight planning situations (3)
7. Reclearance (3)
8. The final phases (3)
9. Documents to be carried on flight (3)
10. Flight planning exercises (3)
11. Threats and hijacking (3)
12. ETOPS (2)

- Flight Monitoring [16Hours]

1. Position of aircraft (3)
2. Effects os ATC reroutes (3)
3. Flight equipment failure (3)
4. En-route weather changes (3)
5. Emergency situations (3)
6. Flight monitoring resources (3)
7. Position reports (3)
8. Ground reosurce availability (3)

- Communications - Radio [18Hours]

1. International aeronautical telecommunications service (2) 
2. Elementary radio theory (2)
3. Aeronautical fixed service (2)
4. Aeronautical mobile service (2)
5. Radio navigation service (2)
6. Automated aeronautical service (2)

 - Human Factors [15Hours]

1. The meaning of Human Factors (3) 
2. Dispatch resource management -DRM- (4)
3. Awareness (3)
4. Practice and feedback (3)
5. Reinforcement (3)

 - Security (emergencies and abnormal situations) [8Hour]

1. Familiarity (3)
2. Security measures taken by airlines (3)
3. Procedures for handling threats, bomb scares, etc (3)
4. Emergency due to dangerous goods (3)
5. Hijacking (3)
6. Emergency procedures (3)
7. Personal security for the FOO/FD (3)

PHASE TWO - APPLIED PRACTICAL TRAINING

1. Applied practical flight operations [25H]
2. Simulator LOFT observation and  synthetic flight training [4H]
3. Flight dispatch practices  (on-the-job training) [13Weeks]
4. Route familiarization [1Week]

Saludos,

JC