OPERATIONAL CONTROL FOR AIR CARRIERS

Operational Control for Air Carriers

 
Guidance Material
 
RECORDS OF REVISIONS

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CONTENT

OPERATIONAL CONTROL FOR AIR CARRIERS ................................................................................. 1

Records of revisions................................................................................................................................. 1
List of effective pages .............................................................................................................................. 2
Content .................................................................................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................... 4
1. Scalable operational control system..................................................................................................... 5
2. Flight dispatch system operational control. .......................................................................................... 6
Dispatch Release ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Dispatch Release - Additional Information and Conditions ...................................................................... 8
Dispatch Release Time Limits .................................................................................................................. 8
Destination ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Amendment of a dispatch release ............................................................................................................ 8
Destination Weather Requirements While En Route................................................................................ 8
Alternate Weather Requirements While En Route ................................................................................... 9
Requirements to Amend a Dispatch Release .......................................................................................... 9
Planned Re-Release .............................................................................................................................. 10
Preflight Briefing ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Flight-Monitoring .................................................................................................................................... 10
Operations Manual (OM)........................................................................................................................ 11
FACILITIES AND STAFFING ................................................................................................................. 11
Facilities ................................................................................................................................................. 12
Staffing ................................................................................................................................................... 12
FLIGHT DISPATCHER/FLIGHT OPERATIONS OFFICER DUTY TIME LIMITATIONS ........................ 13
DISPOSITION OF FLIGHT RECORDS ................................................................................................. 13

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INTRODUCTION

All Croatian AOC holders certificated under the terms and conditions of the Ordinance on the
harmonization of technical requirements and administrative procedures in the field of civil aviation (EU-
OPS-1) (OG 117/09), (requirement OPS 1.195), Ordinance on the Joint Aviation Authorities
requirements and administrative procedures to be applied on commercial air transportation by helicopter
(JAR-OPS-3) (OG 103/09), (requirement JAR-OPS 3.195) or Ordinance on requirements for air
operations and on organization requirements to be met by aircraft operators (OG 54/10), (requirement
OR.OPS.100 GEN(b)) have the obligation to establish a method of operational control over flights under
their AOCs.

ICAO Annex 6, Part I, Chapter 3, point 3.1.4 and Part III, Chapter 1, point 1.1.5 specify that the
responsibility for the exercise of operational control shall be dedicated to the pilot in command and to a
flight dispatcher/flight operations officer if an operator’s approved method of control and supervision of
flight operations requires the use of flight operations officer/flight dispatcher personnel.

Specific Operational Control Functions. Operational control includes, but is not limited to, the
operator’s performance of the following functions:

- Ensuring that only those operations authorized by the Operations Specifications are conducted;

- Ensuring that only crewmembers trained and qualified in accordance with the applicable
regulations are assigned to conduct a flight;

- Ensuring that crewmembers are in compliance with flight and duty time limitations and rest
requirements prior to departing on a flight;

- Designating a PIC and where applicable a First Officer (F/O) for each flight;

- Providing the PIC and other personnel who perform operational control functions; with access to
the necessary information for the safe conduct of the flight (such as weather, NOTAMs, and
airport analysis);

- Specifying the conditions under which a flight may be dispatched or released (weather
minimums, flight planning, airworthiness of aircraft, aircraft loading, and fuel requirements);

- Ensuring that each flight has complied with the authorization specified for release before it is
allowed to depart;

- Ensuring that when the authorization specified for a flight’s release cannot be met, the flight is
either cancelled, delayed, rerouted, or diverted; and

- Monitoring the progress of each flight and initiating timely actions when the flight cannot be
completed as planned, including diverting or terminating a flight.

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OPS 1.195(a) and JAR-OPS 3.195 specify that the method of operational control has to be approved by
Authority.

According to these requirements an operator shall:

(a) Establish and maintain a method of exercising operational control approved by the Authority;
and

(b) Exercise operational control over any flight operated under the terms of his AOC.

Given the power of authority by these requirements, Croatian Civil Aviation Agency shall evaluate the
adequacy of operator’s operational control method in relation to:

- Type of operation;

- Frequency of operation;

- Complexity of operation;

- Area of operation;

- Number and type of aircraft operated;

- Available communication means;

- Flight following and flight locating means;

- Flight preparation means;

- Crew scheduling and controlling means.

Croatian Civil Aviation Agency recognizes two main acceptable types of operational control:

1. SCALABLE OPERATIONAL CONTROL SYSTEM

Scalable operational control system does not necessarily involve licensed nor employed Flight
Dispatchers/Flight Operations Officers. Such operational control methods must be scalable to the size
and the scope of operation. Whether an operator practices the method of operational control without
using employed Flight Dispatchers/Flight Operations Officers, in other words, contracts the services
flight operations support services or dedicates the responsibility for operational control to the pilot in
command, the CCAA will consider the operator completely responsible and liable for exercising the
functions of operational control. CCAA has no legal grounds to certify and oversee flight operations
support organizations acting as service providers in the field of flight operations support. However, it is
in the interest of safety and the operator that these service providers maintain acceptable level of safety
of their services. The operators are obliged to put such service providers and their services under strict
quality and safety inspections. That means that the operator is held responsible for the compliance with
the valid rules and regulations in the field of operational control, flight preparation and flight operations
support, as if these services were provided by the operator itself. All required documents delivered by a

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contracted service provider (e.g. OFP, M&B…) must be signed by the commander in the respective
fields (“Approved by”, “Checked by” or similar). There must be a process defined and documented in
operations manual for the exercise of coordination, authorization and localization of operator’s flights at
all times.

Although not a legal requirement, operators who contract flight preparation services are strongly
encouraged to make sure that before contracting the service and during the lifetime of the contract,
service provider complies with at least following conditions:

- Personnel involved in flight preparation tasks are properly trained and qualified in accordance
with syllabus in ICAO document 7192 D3 or posses valid Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations
Officer license issued by the ICAO member state;

- Personnel involved in flight preparation tasks have an access to operator’s operational

documentation (OM, AFM, M&B manual…) or parts thereof necessary for the execution of their
duties and responsibilities;

- Communication means are in place to enable undisrupted delivery of flight preparation

packages to the flight crew at any point of the operator’s approved area of operation;

- Reliable two way communication between service provider and flight crew is available or
another adequate mean of communication with flight crew is assured (satellite telephone,
mobile telephone, ACARS, transmission of messages through ATC…);

- System for communication record and operational log is in place by the service provider;

- Service provider staffing and facilities are adequate to accommodate operator’s type of
operation.

2. FLIGHT DISPATCH SYSTEM OPERATIONAL CONTROL.

Flight dispatch system is a term for the method of operational control where aircraft operators use
licensed and employed Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers to directly control flight operations.

This system is described in details in this guidance material.

DISPATCH RELEASE

Establishment of Dispatch Release. The dispatch release may be in any form but must contain at least
the following information concerning each flight:

1. Identification number of the aircraft.

2. Trip number.
3. Departure airport, intermediate stops, destination airports, and alternate airports.
4. A statement of the type of operation (e.g., IFR, VFR).
5. Minimum fuel supply.
6. For each flight dispatched as an ETOPS flight, the ETOPS diversion time for which the flight is
dispatched.
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The dispatch release must contain, or have attached to it, weather reports, available weather forecasts,
or a combination thereof, for the destination airport, intermediate stops, and alternate airports, that are
the latest available at the time the release is signed by the commander and dispatcher. It may include
any additional available weather reports or forecasts that the commander or the Flight Dispatcher/Flight
Operations Officer considers necessary or desirable.

The operator must establish procedures to ensure, when a flight has been dispatched but is unable to
depart as scheduled, that the weather information is updated and is the latest available at the time of
actual departure (takeoff). The operator may include procedures in the OM to have the Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer forward to the flight crew any new weather information which may
be operationally significant as soon as practical after the aircraft departs.

To ensure that the weather information is updated, the Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer must
prepare a new dispatch when a flight takes off and then returns to the point of departure.

A flight may not depart from the point of origin unless a dispatch release contains specific authorization
for the flight between specified points. The dispatch release may be for a single flight or for a series of
flights with intermediate stops.

The dispatcher’s and CMDR’s signatures certify that, in the judgment of each, the flight can be made
safely as planned. Some further guidance follows for operators to use regarding signatures on dispatch
releases.

1. The conditions under which a flight is dispatched may make it impractical for both the Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer and the CMDR to sign on the same form. For example, the
operator may maintain a centralized dispatch center and transmit dispatch releases to each
point of departure rather than maintain individual dispatch facilities at each airport. Operators
may establish procedures that comply with the intent of the rule, but accommodate the
necessities of contemporary operations. One acceptable practice is for a Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer to sign a duty roster at the beginning of the Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer’s shift, thus indicating the time the Flight Dispatcher/Flight
Operations Officer came on duty and the desk or geographic area the Flight Dispatcher/Flight
Operations Officer is working. The Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer’s name and a
date-time group printed on each dispatch release may be considered the Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer’s signature in combination with the duty roster. Another
acceptable practice is for the Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer to sign and retain for
the record a copy of each dispatch release which is transmitted.
2. Operators and Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers should be aware of the significance
of an individual’s signature under law, being that the individual who signs has consented to be
bound by, and held responsible for, the act.
3. A Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer may conduct an in-flight re-release by recording
the re-release message on oral tape or in writing. A system of appending the Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer’s signature, such as that described in previous
subparagraph 1. may be used. The CMDR may accept an in-flight re-release over a radio by
reading back the dispatch release message, recording the message in writing (including the
Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer’s name), noting the date and time, and signing the
entry. The preferred procedure is for the message to be copied on a designated master flight
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plan. These same procedures may be used for releases delivered over the telephone. The
signed dispatch releases, duty rosters, and the master flight plan are company records that
must be retained.

DISPATCH RELEASE - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND CONDITIONS

While a dispatch release must contain the information specified in previous subparagraphs, it is not
limited to that information. Additional information and conditions should be placed on or attached to the
release. For example, when an in-flight re-release is planned, a statement to that effect should appear
on the release. When a flight is planned under conditions which could limit the CMDR’s discretion, those
conditions should be indicated. For example, when a flight can be legally and safely conducted over the
most direct route between two points, but not over possible alternate routings that ATC might assign,
that statement should be noted on the release. The regulations require that the Flight Dispatcher/Flight
Operations Officer report adverse weather to the CMDR. This notification can be attached to the
dispatch release. When an operator chooses this option, the operator should have a means for the
CMDR to assure that all attachments are in the CMDR’s possession. One acceptable means an
operator may use to inform the CMDR that there are or are not attachments is to place a statement to
this effect on the release.

DISPATCH RELEASE TIME LIMITS

When an aircraft is released for a flight or series of flights, a new dispatch release is required for flight or
flights for which actual time of departure differs more than three hours from the ETD stated in Dispatch
Release.

DESTINATION

A Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer may designate any airport that is listed in OM-C for the
type of aircraft, as the destination for the purpose of the original dispatch. When a flight is dispatched to
or from a refueling, alternate, or provisional airport, the requirements applicable to dispatch from regular
airports apply.

AMENDMENT OF A DISPATCH RELEASE

In the absence of an emergency, a flight may only proceed to the destination to which it was originally
dispatched, and if the flight is unable to land at the original destination, it may only proceed to the
designated alternate airport. This guidance allows, however, for a dispatch release to be amended while
the flight is en route. An amendment may become necessary or desirable because the conditions under
which the flight was released have changed (unplanned re-release) or because it may have been
planned before departure (a preplanned, re-release).

DESTINATION WEATHER REQUIREMENTS WHILE EN ROUTE

ICAO Annex 6, Chapter 4, paragraph 4.6.1(c) requires that Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers
notify CMDRs of any information on weather and facilities that may affect the safety of flight while flights
are airborne. EU OPS 1 does not prohibit a flight from continuing toward a destination which has gone
below landing minimums or one which is forecast to be below landing minimums at the ETA by a
forecast issued after the flight has departed. For example, there may be enough fuel on board to hold
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overhead the destination until the weather is forecast to improve. Operator should ensure that the
operator’s OM provide guidance to both CMDRs and Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers for
dealing with these circumstances.

ALTERNATE WEATHER REQUIREMENTS WHILE EN ROUTE

OPS 1.340(b) allows the flight to continue to a destination airport if the weather conditions at the
alternate airport (specified in the dispatch release) are forecast to be at or above the required alternate
minimums at the ETA at the alternate airport.

1. An alternate airport may be named which is below alternate minimums at the time of release,
but which is forecast to be above minimums at the ETA. Operator should ensure that the
operator’s OM contains specific procedures, however, for notifying the CMDR and monitoring
the weather at the alternate airport when the selected alternate airport is below minimums at
departure. These procedures may require the designation of a second alternate airport or that
contingency fuel must be carried on the flight.
2. Conditions other than ceiling and visibility can affect minimums, such as navigational aids,
runway lighting, and snow removal operations. Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers must
monitor these factors at designated alternate airports as well as ceiling and visibility.
3. When weather conditions permit, many operators release flights without an alternate airport. In
some instances while the flight is en route, the destination weather may deteriorate to below
what was used to release the flight and to the point that an alternate airport would have been
required. The operator’s OM should contain direction and guidance to CMDRs and Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers on how to manage such a situation.
4. The dispatch release may be amended while the aircraft is en route to include any airport as an
alternate that has the following:
i. Authorization for that type of aircraft
ii. Is within the fuel range of the aircraft
iii. Airport landing weather minimums

REQUIREMENTS TO AMEND A DISPATCH RELEASE

Before a destination airport or an alternate airport may be changed, the following requirements must be
met:

1. The change must be jointly concurred by the CMDR and the Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations
Officer.
2. The Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer must be thoroughly familiar with reported and
forecast weather conditions (including adverse weather) and the status of communications,
navigation, and airport facilities.
3. The Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer must provide the information specified in
previous subparagraph 2. to the CMDR.
4. The destination and alternate airports specified in the amended release must be forecast to be
above the weather minimums required in the operator’s OM for the destination and alternate
airports, respectively, at the ETA.

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5. The aircraft must have sufficient fuel on board at the time and point that the release was
amended to complete the flight in compliance with the applicable fuel requirements and the
aircraft performance requirements.
6. The transmission of the redispatch message must be recorded by the Flight Dispatcher/Flight
Operations Officer, and its receipt must be recorded by the CMDR.

PLANNED RE-RELEASE

Planned re-release operations are conducted to conserve fuel, to complete flights at ranges which
would otherwise be beyond the aircraft’s fuel capacity, and to solve weather-related operational
problems.

PREFLIGHT BRIEFING

1. Before dispatching any flight, a Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer must be thoroughly
familiar with the reported weather conditions and the forecast weather conditions (including
adverse weather) and the status of communications, navigation, and airport facilities. OPS
1.135(a)1. and 3. through 10. specify the additional information to be carried. In flight dispatch
systems where Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers/flight operations officers are used, it
is their responsibility to provide the CMDR with a preflight briefing on each of these items.
2. The preflight briefing may be delivered verbally or in writing. In the latter case, communications
facilities must be available for the Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer and the CMDR to
communicate directly by voice if direct communication is required or desired.
3. The intent of OPS 1.290 and OPS 1.135 is that the Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer
and the CMDR have adequate and identical information for planning. The CMDR and the Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer must be thoroughly familiar with, and consider all aspects
of, the situation. For example, inoperative navigation aids and shortened runways as well as
weather conditions can affect the selection of alternate airports. For this reason the briefing by
the Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer is not optional for either the Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer or the CMDR under these rules.

FLIGHT-MONITORING

A Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer must monitor the progress of each flight under his/her
control until the flight has landed, passed beyond the his/her area of control, or until the Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer is properly relieved by another Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations
Officer. Flight monitoring, as a minimum, must consist of the monitoring of flight time remaining,
destination and alternate airport weather trends, en route winds and weather (including pilot reports),
and the status of airport and navigational facilities.

Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer must report to the CMDR any additional information that
could affect the safety of the flight. This information may be delivered by voice message or by other
means, such as air-ground passive communication systems (ACARS), SATCOM, cellular phones,
transmission of the messages via ATC, etc.

An operator shall keep operational log containing following information:

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- Name and position of duty Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer;

- Start/end of duty (UTC time);

- Essence of operational events during the duty;

- Essence of communication events during the duty (time, date, aircraft call sign, his/her
identification and the essence of the exchanged transmissions).

ICAO Annex 6, Chapter 4, paragraph 4.6.1(c) requires that Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer
shall furnish the pilot-in-command while in flight, by appropriate means, with information which may be
necessary for the safe conduct of the flight. It is recommended that rapid and reliable two-way
communications between each flight and the Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer be available at
any point in the flight. However, other appropriate communication means like ACARS, SATCOM,
cellular phones, transmission of the messages via ATC, etc. may be used for the purpose.

OPERATIONS MANUAL (OM)

Operators must ensure that the operator’s operations manual (OM) contains policies and procedures for
releasing flights and subsequent in-flight monitoring. OPS 1.1040(f) requires that the manual or
applicable parts be available to operations personnel during the performance of their duties. Operators
must ensure that the operator’s OM includes the information that follows.

1. The operator’s OM must contain flight crew reporting requirements and the actions that Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers should take if reports from the flight crew are not received.
2. Once initiated, a flight must continue to destination as planned and in accordance with the
conditions of the dispatch release. A CMDR may decide not to continue to destination when in
his/her opinion it is unsafe to do so. In such cases, the CMDR must take action to obtain the
Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer’s concurrence on a new course of action and then
amend the dispatch release.
3. ATC frequently delays, re-routes, or assigns altitudes to flights other than those
planned by the operator. The ATC system requires this flexibility to re-route traffic flow
around adverse weather and to function effectively. The operator’s policies and
procedures for operational control should accommodate these demands while
maintaining the consideration of responsibility of the Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations
Officer and the CMDR. One acceptable mean operators may use to comply with the
regulatory requirement is to publish notification requirements in the OM for flight crews
to follow in these circumstances

FACILITIES AND STAFFING

Appendix 2 to OPS 1.175(c) and (d) require that each operator provide enough facilities and qualified
operational personnel to ensure adequate operational control of each flight.

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FACILITIES

It is understood that each operator shall provide enough dispatch centers for adequate control of the
operations conducted.

1. Operators have wide latitude in meeting this requirement. With modern communications, many
operators exercise worldwide operational control from a single center. Any number and
placement of centers is acceptable, provided the operator can show that organizational and
communications arrangements are effective.
2. Many operators have chosen to automate some dispatch duties and routines. A few operators
have introduced a high degree of automation. Many functions which were previously performed
manually by human beings are now handled automatically by machine. For example, flight
routes are automatically generated and flight plans are filed by computer. While these systems
may be labor saving, they introduce special problems and specific hazards. Operator must
ensure that the adequate safeguards are designed into the system. For example, the operator
must be able to ensure that a flight plan with a routing identical to the one filed with ATC is
delivered to the CMDR.

STAFFING

Operators shall provide enough qualified Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers to ensure the
adequate operational control of all flights as follows.

It is expected that each Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer be “familiar with all essential
operating procedures for that segment of the operation over which he exercises dispatch jurisdiction.”
This requirement applies to all Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers the operator assigns to
revenue flights (including the management personnel who occasionally work a position to relieve
personnel), and to those Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers who trade assignments for
personal reasons. Operators must establish a means of qualification to satisfy this rule. The rule also
allows Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers to dispatch flights over segments on which they are
not qualified after coordinating with a qualified Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer. Operators
who use this provision must show that the supervising Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer has
adequate time to oversee the Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer unfamiliar with the area without
undue distraction from other assigned duties.

Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers commonly dispatch and monitor flights simultaneously.
Operator must ensure the provision of enough dispatch personnel to fully accomplish both tasks.
Operator should ensure that the operator’s flight dispatchers/flight operations officers are not neglecting
flight monitoring duties due to the pressure of their duties for originating flights.

The time required for a Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer to prepare a dispatch release or to
monitor the progress of a flight varies according to the geographical area the Flight Dispatcher/Flight
Operations Officer is working, the complexity of the operation, and the degree to which the process is
automated. A Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer employed by a small operator may do all of
these tasks manually without assistance and may take several hours to dispatch a single flight. On the
other hand, a Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer for a major air carrier may be able to
adequately dispatch a flight in a few minutes by using a computerized system.
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With all operators, workloads tend to be cyclical with peaks and valleys. Operators should continually
monitor Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer workloads at peak periods to ensure that the
dispatchers are not overloaded. One acceptable means of controlling routine workloads is for operators
to assign Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers to specific geographical areas and to regulate the
number of flights a Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer is scheduled to work in each hour and in
each shift.

The operator must have adequate contingency plans for dealing with foreseeable non-routine
operations. For example, when a major storm system moves across an area and ATC central flow
control begins rerouting traffic, a Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer’s workload can increase to
several times the routine level. One acceptable means of dealing with this problem is for the operator to
add more Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officers during periods of non-routine operations. The
contingency plan may require the re-assignment of flight monitoring responsibilities to reduce the
number of flights being handled by the affected Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer.

If automated systems are used an operator must have published procedures for maintaining operational
control after an unexpected loss of an automated system. These procedures should be published in the
operator’s OM.

FLIGHT DISPATCHER/FLIGHT OPERATIONS OFFICER DUTY TIME LIMITATIONS

Operators must place the following limitations on Flight Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer duty time,
except in cases of circumstances or emergency conditions that are beyond the control of the operator:

1. Each operator conducting commercial air transport shall establish the daily duty period for a
dispatcher so that it begins at a time that allows him or her to become thoroughly familiar with
existing and anticipated weather conditions along the route before he or she dispatches any
airplane. He or she shall remain on duty until each airplane dispatched by him or her has
completed its flight, or has gone beyond his or her jurisdiction or until he or she is relieved by
another qualified dispatcher.

2. Except in cases where circumstances or emergency conditions beyond the control of the operator
require otherwise Flight Dispatchers/Flight Operations Officers may be scheduled to work in
accordance with the requirements of Labuor Act (Official Gazette 149/09).

DISPOSITION OF FLIGHT RECORDS

The operator must ensure that signed Dispatch Release (including required attachments), Flight
Dispatcher/Flight Operations Officer duty roster/records, Dispatch System Operational Log are kept on
file together with documents listed in Table 1 of Appendix 1 to OPS 1.1065. The operator must retain
these flight records for at least three months. The operator must ensure that the operator’s storage
methods and location provide reasonable access for inspections

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