Home/Workflows/Dispatch and flight deck
Operations · FAA Part 121

One flight. Two signatures.
One set of numbers.

One certified calculation serves the dispatch desk and the flight deck, revalidated against live conditions from the first flight plan to on blocks, with every signature and acknowledgement on the record.

Overview

Two desks, one calculation

Dispatch events sit above the line and flight deck events below it. The two filled markers are the points where responsibility is signed.

FLIGHT · PLAN TO ON BLOCKS
STARTCOMPLETEDISPATCHFLIGHT DECKFlight planRunway analysisRelease signedSIGNEDLoad closeoutFlight watchCrew briefCommander signsSIGNEDDatalink uplinkLanding data

Single source of calculation

The release, the flight deck, the FMC and the retained record are served by one engine against one dataset. Every consumer reads the same result.

Continuous revalidation

Every input capable of moving the answer is watched through to arrival. A release that is no longer current is flagged to both parties.

Everything retained

Inputs, results, amendments and acknowledgements are kept together, so a decision can be looked up rather than reassembled.

Step by step

From the filed plan to on blocks

What the platform does at each point of the flight, and what the desk and the flight deck hold while it happens.

DispatchFlight deck
01Planning

Plan in, performance out

The operational flight plan triggers performance automatically. Airport, obstacle and meteorological data are resolved fresh at calculation time.

  • Calculations triggered directly by the filed plan
  • Fuel and alternate policy evaluated against the plan as filed
  • Current observations and forecasts sourced automatically
PLANNING

Numbers ready ahead of the crew

02Hours before departure

Runway analysis against the actual tail

Usable runways and intersections at departure, destination and alternates, computed for the registration in its current configuration.

  • Registration-specific performance data in every calculation
  • Accelerate-stop, takeoff distance and net flight path per runway
  • Wet and contaminated cases carried with the dry result
  • Active MEL and CDL penalties applied inside the calculation
HOURS BEFORE

The same result will meet the crew

03Before boardingSignature 1 of 2

Release

The dispatcher signs against a package assembled from source data, with every figure traceable to its origin.

  • Release contents assembled directly from source systems
  • Weather package current as at signature
  • Airport conditions and facility status attached
BEFORE BOARDING

Release waiting on the EFB

The desk sees the same calculation

BOARDING
04Crew boarding

The flight deck opens to the same result

The commander opens the EFB to the dispatcher’s calculation: the same engine, the same dataset, the same result.

  • One engine and one dataset serving both parties
  • Dispatcher amendments surface on the EFB in real time
  • Desk and flight deck aligned on identical figures at boarding
05Minutes before departure

Closeout, and only the changes that matter

Final weights arrive and the platform works out whether they actually move the answer. A release is reissued when the numbers require it.

  • Business rules decide whether a change is material
  • Last minute changes applied to the active release
  • Every superseded version retained in full
MINUTES BEFORE

Any revision surfaces on the EFB

Acceptance visible at the desk

FINAL MINUTES
06Final minutesSignature 2 of 2

Final numbers and the second signature

Runway change, wind shift, a fresh surface report. Requested from the EFB or from the flight deck over datalink, and answered into the FMC.

  • Request from the EFB or the flight deck, answer returned to the FMC
  • Datalink and aircraft interface device paths both supported
  • Both signatures resolve against one calculation
07Airborne

Amendments follow the flight

Conditions move after pushback. Amendments are issued, delivered and acknowledged, and the record shows when each of those happened.

  • Amended release delivered to the EFB and acknowledged
  • Alternate substitution within fuel range
  • Amendment history recorded as it happens
AIRBORNE

Amendments arrive on the EFB

In-flight calculations sync to the desk

IN FLIGHT
08Airborne

Calculations continue on the flight deck

The crew runs performance in the air as the picture changes: landing data for the destination, an en route alternate, a diversion. Each one comes from the engine the desk uses.

  • Landing, alternate and diversion calculations available in flight
  • Results synchronised with flight planning wherever connectivity exists
  • Calculations made out of coverage synchronise on return to a link
  • Every in-flight calculation lands in the same retained record

The desk holds the same result

ARRIVAL
09Arrival

Assessed on the surface as reported

Landing performance is computed on the conditions reported at the time of arrival and returned while the aircraft is on descent.

  • Reported runway condition per third, with braking action reports
  • Actual arrival weight applied
  • Configuration and serviceability as they stand
  • Returned inside the time available on descent
ON BLOCKS
10On blocks

The full record of the flight

Every calculation is retained with the inputs that produced it, ready to answer why the flight departed on those figures.

  • Inputs retained with results, so any calculation can be reproduced
  • Amendment and acknowledgement history preserved in full
  • Available for safety investigation and authority audit
Revalidation

The loop that keeps a release current

Every release runs inside a closed loop from the moment it is issued until the aircraft is on blocks.

REVALIDATION · ACTIVE RELEASE
01Watch02Evaluate03Recompute04Distribute05Acknowledge06RetainACTIVERELEASE
01

Watch

Every input that bounds the active release is under live subscription.

02

Evaluate

A change is tested against the release it would affect and classified by materiality.

03

Recompute

Only a material change raises a new calculation, on the engine that produced the first.

04

Distribute

The result reaches the desk, the flight deck and, where required, the aircraft.

05

Acknowledge

Delivery and crew acknowledgement are tracked as separate, timestamped states.

06

Retain

The superseded version is preserved with its inputs and the reason it was replaced.

The engine

Where a number comes from

One calculation serving the release, the flight deck, the aircraft and the record.

CALCULATION · INPUTS AND CONSUMERS
INPUTSENGINECONSUMERSOperational flight planAirport and runway dataMETAR, TAF and FICONAircraft configurationMEL and CDLFinal weightsONECALCULATIONDispatch releaseFlight deck EFBFMC uplinkRetained record
RELEASE · STATE
VERSION
Three
CURRENT
SUPERSEDED
Two earlier
RETAINED
DISPATCH
Signed
V3
FLIGHT DECK
Acknowledged
V3
Versioning

One current version, always

Both parties always resolve to one current version, and what each of them has seen and accepted is written to the record.

  • Delivery and crew acknowledgement tracked as separate, timestamped states
  • Superseded versions preserved in full with the inputs that produced them
  • The desk and the flight deck resolve to the same version at all times

See the workflow against your own procedures

Talk to our engineers about how dispatch and the flight deck hold one set of numbers in your operation, with your flight planning system, your load planning and your datalink.