Resource Management: Corporate Aircraft Dispatch

Reyjo's Notion Series: Episode 10

A dispatcher can be sure to conduct flights in the safest and most thorough manner possible by utilizing all available resources to plan and monitor flights.

The commercial aviation meticulously follows a philosophy termed ‘Dispatch Resource Management’ (DRM). The DRM is described by the Federal Aviation Administration as an operational philosophy meant to address “the challenge of optimizing communication between diverse groups within an airline and the related interpersonal issues while using available resources. This includes effective team building, conflict resolution, situational awareness, information transfer and dissemination, problem solving, decision making and dealing with automated systems. DRM had evolved because of the joint responsibility for the preflight planning, delay and dispatch release of a flight between the pilot in command and aircraft dispatcher.”

The absence of joint responsibility (between pilots and dispatchers) may be the rationale for the dearth or absence of DRM philosophy in corporate flight departments/charter operations.

The background of this article is a recent incident involving dispatch of an airplane to a wrong airport. The person was quick to admit the error and even posted it on social media along with the lessons learnt and received support from many professionals across the board. Based on the narrative, it emerges that the situation could have been avoided with better resource management.

There are two stake holders which involves corporate aircraft dispatchers to support Part 91 and 135 operations. First is the corporate flight department of the operator itself and the other, a third party flight support service provider.

The following ways may help corporate aircraft dispatchers for better resource management.

The Customer Preferences

Anticipating a customer's needs is as important as reacting. Knowing and understanding your customer's preferences before hand allows you to create an even stronger experience. So it is a valuable resource to start with.

• The third party service provider shall work with their clientele at the start of their engagement; and at least annually, to streamline the Customer Preferences.
• The Customer Preferences shall be planned for updates based on a schedule which is known to the corporate aircraft dispatchers. This will eliminate surprises.
• The Customer Preferences shall have a specific format encompassing all the possible nuances of the customer's flight operations.

Information gathering and dissemination

Part 91 and 135 operations gets planned; and then changed at a very short notice. The flight request information is often received through telephonic calls or emails. Special emphasis should be made in the following three areas;

• Inquiry – don’t be afraid to ask questions
• Advocacy – try to work together in a positive manner
• Assertion – do not be afraid to bring up concerns or to be proactive

Additionally, using various chat messaging services for communicating relevant flight information can lead to errors. Hence all the information gathered should be captured at one place for better dissemination and easy reference.

Conflict resolution and interpersonal relationships

The best resource available to corporate aircraft dispatchers is their peers. While peer reviews are common in their flight departments, it is necessary for them to consider the following.

• Diversity among personal styles
• Diversity among operating styles
• Sensitivity to coworker personalities and styles
• Maintaining a relaxed, friendly yet productive workplace environment

There will come a time when they encounter conflict when communicating with their peers. They have to serve as able negotiators. While there is something to be said for being as tactful and non-abrasive as possible, this doesn’t mean that they let them get pushed over by their peers. Safe conduct of the flight comes first and always.

I must quote the findings of Barbara Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina here that positive emotions like trust, curiosity, confidence, and inspiration broaden the mind and help us build psychological, social, and physical resources. 

Personal responsibility

• Corporate aircraft dispatchers shall understand that they themselves are a vital resource that forms part of the entire spectrum of operations in corporate/charter operations.
• People are the primary cause (80%) of all aviation accidents. Extreme caution should be exercised at all times to ensure that no omissions to flight planning or monitoring are made.
• Fatigue management may not be considered just organizational but a personal responsibility.

Organizational issues

• Time is a valuable resource.
• Most of the flight support service providers keep their team multi-tasked. The workload is often considered while additional processes are rolled out. The organizations shall take guard against the inadvertent mismanagement of the tasks based on time-frames only. For example, if the primary task is for 5 hours and secondary task is expected to be just 3 hours in an 8 hour shift; then it is imperative to ensure that the secondary task does not overlap within the busiest hours of the primary task.
• These issues get overlooked as multi-tasking per se includes doing multiple tasks at the same time and also the fact that aircraft dispatch itself is a multi-tasked job function and therefore the secondary tasks gets easily pushed through the primary tasks.

The collective mission should be to enhance the communication and management skills of corporate aircraft dispatchers by effective utilization of all available resources to achieve safe and efficient conduct of flight operations.

PS: ‘Corporate Aircraft Dispatcher’ term is used in this article as a general reference to popular nomenclatures such as Flight Followers, Flight Data Analysts/Specialists and its other variants.