The Accountable Manager /Chief Executive Officer of Aviatrix Hub Training Institute, Mrs. Victoria Adegbe has stated that Flight Dispatchers play a very critical role in the safety and efficiency of flight operations globally.
Adegbe spoke during the Children’s Day celebration organised by the South African Airways to celebrate this year’s May 27,2023 Children’s Day with the title, ‘Career Opportunities in the Aviation Industry’ at Golfview Hotel Ikeja, Lagos.
The Aviatrix boss, who was one of the Guest Speakers at the event enumerated the importance of flight dispatchers in the safety and efficiency of flight operations world over.
She compared the relationship between mother and father contributing an equal number of chromosomes to give birth to a healthy child to that of flight dispatchers and pilots sharing equal responsibilities to birth a safe flight.
To buttress her point, she told a story of the flight dispatchers of yester-years that just learnt on the job and were not licensed and were always ordered around by pilots and paid meagre sums by airlines.
This, she asserted, was a huge flight safety risk.
She said that presently regulations required the Flight Dispatchers to go to school and study till they get their Advanced Flight Dispatch, which according to her is equivalent to the Airline Transport Pilot License(ATPL) the pilots have right before becoming captains and getting licensed.
According to her, “The challenge is that the airlines haven’t gone to school and are still using the old rule books as regards flight dispatch.
The reality is that this is a huge safety risk, the person I’m sharing joint responsibility with on paper does not translate anywhere with their remuneration.”
In conclusion, she reiterated that in the interest of safety, the airlines need to go to school too.
Victoria Adegbe is the CEO of Aviatrix Hub and also a member of the Flight Dispatchers Association of Nigeria(FLIDAN).
She is a licenced Flight Dispatcher and instructor both in Nigeria and in the United States of America.
