In several related articles I made mention of finding work as a flight coordinator, as a flight attendant, or as a pilot. Each specialty, as you can imagine, has its own requirements, hence the job sites that feature these types of opportunities are not always the same. If you have some idea where to look – besides contacting an employer directly – you can narrow down your searches and, hopefully, shorten the entire job hunting process. The following list contains some of the sites that are most helpful in listing viable opportunities for airline dispatchers.
Aviation Employment Board – This site offers free registration and allows for you to post your resume for free as well. Airlines featured include United, Continental, Trans States, Spirit, Southwest, Northwest, Mesa, EOS, Champion, Pace, and a host of others including many European and Asian carriers. Please visit www.aviationemploymentboard.net for more detailed information.
Monster –Monster regularly lists over 800,000 opportunities, including many airline openings. There is no charge to register and you are permitted to list your resume for free as well. Please visit www.monster.com for more information.
Avianation – One of the largest aviation related job sites online, Avianation features a variety of opportunities, including many dispatcher positions. There is a fee involved for their service, currently set at $9.95 per month or $80.55 annually. Occasionally, posted specials drop the price considerably so visit this site for current information: www.avianation.com today.
Air Jobs Daily – As one of the leading job posting sites for the aviation industry online, Air Jobs Daily features a variety of opportunities for business and commercial aviation employees. Air Jobs Daily charges an annual fee of $77.95 which also includes a subscription to the Air Jobs Digest, a periodical featuring additional job listings and aviation related information. Please visit www.airjobsdaily.com for more information.
Hot Jobs – Hot Jobs, owned by search engine giant Yahoo, is an employment site featuring several hundred thousand opportunities, including airline jobs. Registration is free and you may list your resume for free too. Please stop by www.hotjobs.com for more information.
Career Builder – The largest job posting site online is Career Builder which at any given time lists more than one million jobs. Airline jobs, such as flight dispatchers are listed, perhaps not in as abundance as some of the aviation sites, but a good place to look nevertheless. Membership is free and you can list your resume for no charge too. Visit www.careerbuilder.com for all the details.
Other sites that feature airline dispatcher opportunities include: AEPS, Plane Jobs, Jet Jobs , and Skyjobs. Please note that most of the paid sites contain the same job opportunities as each of the other sites, therefore belonging to more than one is not cost effective.
Airline Dispatcher Job Sites
Airline Customer Service Careers
The US airline industry is gradually moving away from all the bloodletting that brought about the bankruptcy of four major carriers over the past several years while at the same time marked the emergence of many discount carriers into the forefront of the business. Indeed, the face of commercial aviation has changed dramatically over the past decade and it now appears that the worst is behind us. This does not mean that further layoffs and downsizings are not possible, but for the person seeking a customer service career in the aviation industry, the future has brightened considerably.
Customer service opportunities with the airlines includes the following job titles: reservation agents, ramp agents, line service technicians, customer service agents, baggage handlers, and various management positions including station manager, customer service manager, and airport operations manager. Similar job titles exist, but for the sake of brevity in using the term “airline customer service” I mean those ground personnel tasked with assisting customers as they get to and from their destinations.
So, exactly who is hiring? Well, on any given day just about everyone could be. The turn over rate for customer service personnel can be high, depending on the airline and the working conditions. To make it easier on you, the following is a break down of the various airlines who hire customer service agents. In most cases you will work directly for the airline but in some cases a position may be with a vendor or for the airport authority itself.
Legacy Carriers – American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, and USAir all qualify as legacy carriers. Simply defined these are the carriers that helped the airline industry get its start in the U.S. Out of the six listed, only American and Continental have avoided bankruptcy. Thus, a career with a legacy carrier can be a risky proposition.
Foreign Carriers – Many foreign carriers fly in and out of the U.S. and are worth a look. Depending on the carrier selected, you may be required to speak the language of the carrier’s country in addition to speaking English. Chief carriers include: Air Canada, Mexicana, Air France, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, and flag carriers as well as discount carriers from dozens of countries from around the globe.
Discount Carriers – Some of the strongest carriers in operation today are discount airlines. Two of the best are Southwest and JetBlue, both of which are expanding and are hiring on a regular basis. Other discount carriers include: Spirit, USA3000, and many small more regional carriers.
Regional Operators – Working as “feeder” airlines for the big carriers, regional operators include Colgan, Republic, Shuttle America, American Eagle, Comair, and Great Lakes. Some of these carriers are awash in cash with very promising futures.
Charter Carriers – A few airlines fly chartered flights principally although some have scheduled flights too. Some of the more noted charter operators include: Miami Air, Xtra Airways, and Sun Country.
Cargo Carriers -- Not every carrier moves people. Some carriers move goods, merchandise, and equipment. Customer service jobs as sales agents and equipment handlers are an option for potential employees. Chief cargo companies include: DHL, FEDEX, UPS, Emery Worldwide, and Amerijet.
Two recently launched carriers, EOS Airlines and Maxjet Airways, went through a hiring surge immediately preceding their first flights in Autumn 2005. As with any start up, long term career possibilities are a big question as most start ups eventually fail.
In all, the opportunities for you in the airline industry have improved. While pay for hourly workers is generally low the benefits, including flight privileges, are usually fairly good. In spite of everything, the airline industry remains a point of interest for so many people and with decreasing fuel prices and strength in the economy, the job market for customer service personnel is on an upswing.
Southwest airline credit card
Southwest airline credit card
Southwest airline credit cards are a good example of co-branded credit cards. Southwest airlines and Chase have teamed up to bring the southwest airline credit cards to you. At the time of writing this article, there are two popular southwest airline cards which are also collectively called as southwest airlines rapid rewards Visa cards. One of these southwest airline credit cards is for personal use (this is called Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa Signature Card) and the other southwest airline credit card is for business use. Both these southwest airline credit cards are aimed at getting you a roundtrip award faster.
There are a number of ways in which you can earn reward points using Southwest airline credit cards. Southwest airline credit cards have two kinds of reward points i.e. there are two denominations in which you can earn reward points - rapid reward credits and rapid reward dollars. The rapid reward credits are a much higher reward denomination as compared to the reward dollars (e.g. at the time of writing this article, 1200 reward dollars is equal to 1 rapid reward credit).
So how do you earn and redeem the reward points on your southwest airline credit card?
You get bonus reward credits after your first purchase on your southwest airline credit card. These purchases needn’t be on southwest airlines products/services, these can be just any purchases made using the southwest airline credit card. You earn reward dollars for any expenditures you make using your southwest airline credit card. There are additional reward dollars, when you use your southwest airline credit card on southwest airlines (i.e. when you use your southwest airline credit card to spend on southwest airlines products/services). By additional we mean, the reward dollars are more as compared to those earned on other, non-southwest airline, purchases. As you keep collecting reward dollars, you keep moving closer to getting a round trip award. Generally, the roundtrip awards are based on rapid reward credits. So, you can convert the reward dollars, earned on your southwest airline credit card, into rapid reward credits; and convert rapid reward credits into your roundtrip award. Another way of earning rapid rewards credit on southwest airline credit cards is through balance transfers.
Southwest airline credit cards are surely a good option for people who travel frequently by air using southwest airlines. Since the network of southwest airlines is pretty widespread, you will find that you are able to get southwest airlines flight to most places you want to travel to and hence get an opportunity to use your south west airline credit card to earn reward points (or reward dollars, as they call them).