Preparing for Pressure: Onboarding New Scheduler/Dispatchers

It’s no secret: the role of a business aviation scheduler/dispatcher is a high pressure job with plenty to worry about.

Their endless list of responsibilities to support safety, efficiency and regulatory compliance can be mind-boggling. As a central communications hub, they manage complex logistics on the ground with the aim of enabling flights to proceed safely, without delay. And as if that’s not enough, there’s also trip planning and coordination, as well as inflight monitoring and support.

The ultimate goal of any scheduler/dispatcher onboarding process should be to effectively enable new employees to become a vital member of an existing team. “Otherwise, you have individuals working separately and then they don’t achieve a similar goal,” said Mitchell Papontos, director of dispatch at Wheels Up, and vice chair of NBAA’s Schedulers and Dispatchers Committee.

Schedulers and dispatchers who can work under pressure as part of a unified team are highly valued throughout the wide spectrum of business aircraft operators, from fractional and charter, to Part 91. A unified, healthy culture and a well-trained S&D team provide strong, reliable support for an operation’s safety and regulatory compliance. It also enables each company to meet client expectations.

Understanding Expectations

“It’s about delivering exceptional service and looking for opportunities to exceed expectations,” Papontos said. “Even when schedulers and dispatchers aren’t interacting with clients directly, they support those who do, and their ability to remain solution-focused plays a critical role in meeting organizational objectives.”

Company Culture Is Crucial

Lisa Borrayo, sales manager at Prime Trip Support, who is also vice chair of NBAA’s Schedulers and Dispatchers Committee, said it’s vital to expose new schedulers and dispatchers to their company’s corporate culture. “It helps to find someone who is a good fit,” she said. It’s more than just talking about it; it’s about living it, which can be a bit different, Borrayo said. That exposure is a critical part of the onboarding and hiring process.

“At Prime, we let the trainees talk to other schedulers and dispatchers who would be members of their team to allow them to have a more realistic view of the culture,” she explained. “At the end of the day, a firsthand experience is better than taking the company’s word for it. Company culture can make or break whether someone joins or lasts within your company.”

Bizav’s Unique Service Aspect

It’s advisable to recruit people who can be operations wizards who also bring strong interpersonal skills, Bjork said, to “get a sweet spot.” This is extremely important, said Borrayo, because business aviation schedulers and dispatchers are much more involved than they are in commercial aviation. They must wear many hats with high-quality service delivery in mind.

Onboarding With Realistic Scenarios

During the onboarding process it’s very important not to assume that trainees have prior knowledge on key topics. Experts recommend putting trainees through real-life scenarios that will give them opportunities to demonstrate the skills they know while identifying what they need to improve on.

“This forces the company to spend significantly more on training to bring them up to standard, and we also need to ensure that trainees demonstrate the decision-making abilities required for the job,” said Papontos. Employees also need to be allowed to be honest about their mistakes by documenting them to ensure they don’t occur again, he said.

Feedback Is Key

Encouraging feedback should be a daily part of a flight operation’s culture. “Feedback helps fill those gaps you don’t know exist and make you even more well-rounded in your growth,” said Bjork. Teams should never stop finding ways to improve. The moment teams stop trying to obtain constructive feedback from employees and clients, the more likely “you are setting yourself up to get complacent,” Bjork said.

“Complacency not only harms your work, but it is also a safety red flag,” Bjork said, adding that it’s important to let new hires fail and make mistakes, within reason. Hire the person – not the resume – while giving them grace to build up their confidence and to integrate into their new role. You’re not hiring datasets or machines, he said.

“It’s vital to take care of your employees and candidates because they will take care of your clients and grow your business,” Bjork said.

It’s also important to have a clear training procedure, said Borrayo. Enable your operations teams to sit down with clients and develop strong working relationships. Eventually, these bonds can be essential for making improvements and enhancing service quality. As Papontos said, onboarding doesn’t stop once they’ve been hired. It’s about ongoing improvement.

Expand your scheduler/dispatcher skills through NBAA’s Business Aircraft Scheduler Certificate Program at nbaa.org/scheduler-cert.