Dispatcher duty limits, fatigue and hazardous attitudes

Human factors questions are often treated as the easy filler at the end of a study plan. They are not. They carry a meaningful share of the exam, and the duty limitation numbers are precise.

Aircraft dispatcher duty time limitations

14 CFR 121.465 sets the duty limits for aircraft dispatchers in domestic and flag operations. These are dispatcher limits and are distinct from the Part 117 flight and duty limitations that apply to flightcrew members.

• Daily duty periods must begin at a time that allows the dispatcher to become thoroughly familiar with existing and anticipated weather conditions along the route before dispatching a flight.
• The dispatcher must remain on duty until each flight dispatched has completed its flight, gone beyond the dispatcher's jurisdiction, or another authorised dispatcher has taken over.
• No dispatcher may be scheduled for more than 10 consecutive hours of duty.
• If scheduled for more than 10 hours of duty in 24 consecutive hours, the dispatcher must be given at least 8 hours of rest at or before the end of 10 hours of duty.
• Each dispatcher must be relieved of all duty with the certificate holder for at least 24 consecutive hours during any 7 consecutive days, or the equivalent within any one calendar month.

Fatigue

Acute fatigue follows a period of insufficient sleep or extended wakefulness and is relieved by rest. Chronic fatigue accumulates over time when recovery is repeatedly incomplete, and is not relieved by a single rest period. Circadian rhythm produces a natural performance low in the early hours of the morning, which is precisely when many dispatch and flight operations shifts are running.

Fatigue degrades the specific abilities operational control depends on: sustained attention across multiple flights, working memory when holding a developing weather picture, and willingness to revise a decision already made. It rarely feels like sleepiness at the moment it matters. It feels like a decision that seemed reasonable at the time.

The five hazardous attitudes

The exam asks you to match the attitude to the antidote and to identify the attitude in a short scenario. Learn the antidotes verbatim. They are worded specifically and the distractors are paraphrases of the correct answer.

Dispatch resource management

The dispatcher and the pilot in command are two people exercising one authority. That only works if information moves cleanly between them. Closed-loop communication, explicit statement of assumptions, and a shared understanding of what has changed since the release was signed are the practical content of dispatch resource management.