Flight dispatchers were positioned as safety-critical operational control professionals at the 2026 Annual Conference of the Flight Dispatchers Association of Nigeria (FLIDAN), where regulators, industry leaders and technical experts called for full implementation of ICAO standards, competency-based training, and structural reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s aviation safety framework.
Held on 15 July 2026 at the NCAA Annex Training Hall, Lagos, under the theme, “Safety and Efficiency: The Flight Dispatcher’s Role”, the conference convened the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), airlines, Approved Aviation Training Organizations (AATOs), airport operators, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and other aviation stakeholders.
In his welcome address, FLIDAN President, Daniel Ayuba, spoke about the elevated role of flight dispatchers and how this affects safety: “It is my great honour and privilege to welcome you all to the 2026 Flight Dispatchers Association of Nigeria (FLIDAN) Annual Conference. Today, the role of the flight dispatcher is no longer viewed merely as a supporting one. We are strategic partners in operational control. Every safe departure, every efficient flight plan, every informed operational decision, and every successful arrival is influenced by the professionalism and expertise of a flight dispatcher. Safety remains the foundation of aviation, and efficiency is the discipline that ensures resources are utilized wisely without compromising safety. These two principles must always work together”, he remarked.
He went on to urge stakeholders to ensure conference recommendations move beyond deliberation and translate into meaningful action within the nation’s airlines, Operations Control Centres, regulatory institutions, and training organizations. He equally called on stakeholders to continue to advocate for the implementation of ICAO Document 10106, strengthen Safety Management Systems, embrace modern operational technologies, improve competency-based training, and support initiatives that enhance both safety and operational efficiency throughout the Nigerian aviation industry.
In his address, the Director General (DG) of NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo, who was represented by Capt. Don Spiff, NCAA’s Director of Operations, Licensing & Training Standards, addressed the regulatory recognition of flight dispatchers and the agency’s strategic vision for the profession:
“The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority recognizes that Flight Dispatchers are not merely flight planners; they are safety-critical professionals whose expertise and operational judgment contribute significantly to every safe flight. Through effective flight planning (Nig. CARs 8.6), weather analysis (Nig. CARs 8.13. 1.8), fuel management (Nig. CARs 8.13.1.11), operational control (Nig. CARs 8.13.1.4) and continuous flight monitoring (Nig. CARs 9.3.1.23), flight dispatchers work alongside flight crews to ensure that every flight is conducted safely and efficiently.
As Nigeria’s aviation regulatory authority, the NCAA remains committed to building a robust oversight system that supports professionalism, competence and operational excellence across every segment of the industry. Our strategic vision for flight dispatchers is anchored on three key pillars: Safety, Competency and Integration.”
On competency, the DG stated that the Authority will continue to encourage competency-based training, recurrent training and continuous professional development in areas such as human factors, threat and error management, aviation meteorology, aircraft performance, fatigue risk management, dangerous goods and the use of advanced flight planning systems. On the issue of integration, he affirmed that flight dispatchers must be fully integrated into airline operational decision-making and Safety Management Systems (SMS).
A technical paper by D.O. Olatunji, Member, Board of Trustees, FLIDAN, defined efficiency as “without waste” and identified ICAO Document 10106 (Manual on Flight Operations and Operational Control) as the central regulatory instrument Nigeria must domesticate.
According to him, the sector still faces gaps ranging from outdated OCC structures and insufficient dispatcher authority, to the absence of documented shared decision-making. He also cited training that falls short of competency-based standards, weak integration of dispatch functions into airline Safety Management Systems, and limited use of data analytics for operational control.
Olatunji argued for aircraft type ratings and formal duty logbooks, linking them to Doc 10106’s competency framework: “When operational decisions depend on aircraft-specific data, competency must be validated on that aircraft-type to prevent data misinterpretation, performance miscalculations and operational errors.” He noted Nigeria’s unique advantage given NCAA’s existing practice of issuing aircraft-type ratings to cabin crew, and called for similar inclusion for dispatchers: “NCAA should leverage on the opportunity of this role-type rating to adopt aircraft-type rating for flight dispatchers, who are currently the only safety personnel category under NCAA’s over-site with no aircraft type inclusion on their license, though the flight dispatchers’ decisions are deeply tied to aircraft performance, systems, and limitations”, he urged.
Olatunji equally proposed a structured dispatcher logbook aligned with ICAO Annex 6 and Document 10106 to support fatigue risk management, regulatory compliance, and audit trails.
Dr. Alexander Nwuba, President of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and 2nd Vice President, Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), who was represented by Mr. Ohunayo Olu, General Secretary, ASRTI, addressed the authority of flight dispatchers in operational control.
“The dispatch release is not paperwork. It is the first safety decision of every flight. Under the global standards on which our own regulations are built, operational control is a shared responsibility: the dispatcher and the pilot-in-command are jointly responsible for the planning, the release, and, where necessary, the delay or cancellation of a flight. When a dispatcher declines to release a flight, that flight does not go. Full stop”, he explained.
Nwuba highlighted that “Nigeria has licensed roughly one thousand five hundred flight dispatchers, yet fewer than five hundred are in employment,” and cited duty-time exceedances, remuneration issues, and lack of type ratings and logbooks. He recommended enforcement of duty limits, fair remuneration, type ratings, and mandatory logbooks, and urged that “dispatchers must sit at the table in safety action groups, in airline SMS structures, and in regulatory consultation, not as observers, but as the operational-control professionals the law says they are.” He concluded: “the dispatcher is not support staff. The dispatcher is in operational control.”
In a goodwill message, Prof. Charles Anosike, Director General/CEO of NiMet, represented by Prof. Vincent Weli, the agency’s Director of Weather Forecasting Services, dissected the dispatcher-meteorology interface. He described NiMet’s Electronic Flight Folder as a web-based platform that “provides flight dispatchers and flight crews with centralized access to critical weather information required for safe and efficient flight planning and operations.”
“Weather remains one of the most dynamic and influential variables in aviation operations. This is where the partnership between flight dispatchers and meteorological service providers becomes indispensable. Safety and efficiency should never be viewed as competing objectives. Rather, they are complementary goals that reinforce one another. Flight dispatchers remain central to achieving this balance”, he declared.
Across all presentations, speakers converged on four priorities: accelerated adoption of ICAO Document 10106; institutionalization of competency-based and aircraft-type-specific training; integration of dispatch functions into airline SMS, and enforcement of fatigue and duty-time management.
Stakeholders noted that collective effort is needed to strengthen the flight dispatch profession, improve the safety and efficiency of airline operations, and position Nigeria as a model of operational excellence in global aviation; stressing that achieving this would require stronger professionalism, adherence to safety standards, and alignment with international best practices.
