CAAP Flight Dispatcher study guide
CAAP Flight Dispatcher · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The CAAP Flight Dispatcher credential is the Philippine licensing benchmark for the person on the ground who turns a schedule into a safe, legal, and economic flight. Working under the operator's control, the dispatcher shares responsibility with the pilot-in-command for flight watch, and the licence is issued through the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines after the candidate meets the authority's training, experience, and examination requirements. The CAAP Flight Dispatcher study guide has 13 sections and about 3,618 words.
01Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations and ICAO Standards
This domain checks whether you can apply the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations (PCAR), CAAP licensing rules, and ICAO Annex standards to day-to-day dispatch. Expect questions on the hierarchy of rules, the air operator certificate (AOC), operations specifications (OpSpecs), flight dispatcher licensing and currency, recordkeeping, and enforcement.
310 words, about 2 min02Flight Planning
Flight planning questions test your ability to build an operational flight plan (OFP) and ATS flight plan that are legal, safe, and fuel-efficient. You must integrate route, altitude, weather, NOTAM, aircraft performance, payload, alternates, and fuel into a release the PIC can accept.
306 words, about 2 min03Fuel Planning and Load Control
This domain combines fuel policy with weight and balance. You must calculate usable fuel, verify regulatory reserves, and ensure that zero-fuel weight, takeoff weight, landing weight, and centre of gravity remain within limits.
289 words, about 1 min04Meteorology and Aviation Weather Services
You must interpret aviation weather products and decide how they affect release, alternates, fuel, and in-flight monitoring. Expect METAR, SPECI, TAF, SIGMET, AIRMET, winds and temperatures aloft, PIREP, and advisories for tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, and low-level wind shear.
294 words, about 1 min05Aircraft Performance and Weight and Balance
Performance questions test takeoff and landing distance, obstacle clearance, climb gradients, density altitude, contaminated runway effects, and weight-and-balance limits. You do not fly the aircraft, but you must decide whether the planned weight, runway, and conditions make the flight legal.
291 words, about 1 min06Navigation, Radio Aids and Air Traffic Services
This domain covers navigation principles and the radio/ATS environment: true and magnetic direction, variation and deviation, great-circle and rhumb-line tracks, VOR/DME, NDB, GNSS, RNAV/PBN, SSR, ADS-B, ATC clearances, position reporting, and RVSM. True course is referenced to true north; magnetic heading is referenced to magnetic north and affected by aircraft deviation.
280 words, about 1 min07Flight Operations Procedures
This domain tests the dispatch release process and in-flight control. You must assemble weather, NOTAM, load, fuel, MEL/CDL, crew, aircraft, and ATS information, then monitor the flight and act on changes.
262 words, about 1 min08Instruments and Aircraft Systems
You need a dispatcher-level understanding of aircraft instruments and systems so you can interpret crew reports, MEL effects, and abnormal situations. Expect pitot-static, gyroscopic, ADC/AHRS, FMS, autopilot, TCAS, EGPWS, weather radar, fuel, electrical, hydraulic, and pressurization questions.
270 words, about 1 min09Dangerous Goods
Dangerous goods questions test the shipper/operator interface, acceptance checks, loading, notification, and emergency response. The baseline is the ICAO Technical Instructions, with operator variations and Philippine requirements applied through the approved operations manual.
288 words, about 1 min10Emergency Procedures and Safety Management
This domain tests emergency response and the operator's safety management system (SMS). You should know the emergency response plan (ERP), accident and incident notification, search and rescue coordination, emergency authority, and the four SMS components.
264 words, about 1 min11Human Factors
Human factors questions test fatigue, stress, workload, situational awareness, decision-making, communication, and error management in dispatch. You must recognize conditions that degrade performance and apply defences before an error reaches the flight.
261 words, about 1 min12Crew Resource Management and Aviation Communications
CRM and communications questions test closed-loop communication, standard phraseology, assertiveness, leadership, briefings, and coordination among dispatcher, crew, ATC, and ground staff. The exam focuses on preventing misunderstanding under workload.
240 words, about 1 min13Crew Resource Management and Aviation Communications
This final communications domain concentrates on dispatcher-crew-ATC coordination in abnormal and high-workload situations. It tests whether you can transmit clear, prioritized information and confirm that the receiver understands the operational effect, not just the words.
263 words, about 1 min