Civil Aviation Engineers and Technicians

How to become a Flight Dispatcher

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 民航飞行签派工程技术人员

Assesses aircraft performance, aeronautical information, aviation weather and other information, and handles an airline's flight dispatch and operations monitoring.

Main tasks

Assessing and preparing flight plans and deciding whether a flight can be released
Scheduling and adjusting the fleet's flight plans, assessing operational risks and supporting operational decisions
Monitoring flights, giving crews the information they need to stay safe and handling emergencies
Planning flight routes and analysing, passing on and assessing airport and route equipment information
Building and maintaining the navigation databases used to run flights
Assessing how airports, routes and difficult weather affect flights
Assessing aircraft operating performance and analysing take off, en route and landing performance
Writing engine failure procedures for take off and go around at airports with difficult terrain
Analysing driftdown performance and oxygen supply after cabin depressurisation on high altitude routes
Setting aircraft weight and centre of gravity limits and analysing flight loads, centre of gravity and trim

Ways in

University: Engineering degrees, Offered by 105 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Transportation (0818); majors such as Transportation, Traffic Engineering, Marine Navigation, Marine Engineering, Flight Technology, Transportation Equipment and Control Engineering. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
Vocational majors: Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Aero Engine Maintenance Technology (260603). Vocational major 260603 Aero Engine Maintenance Technology (航空动力装置维修技术), 4 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Aero Engine Repair.; Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technology (260602). Vocational major 260602 Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technology (飞行器维修工程技术), 4 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Aircraft Riveting and Assembly.
National qualification: Licence to practise: Aviation Personnel Licence. You need this qualification to work in the job. Listed in the national vocational qualifications catalogue (国家职业资格目录, 2021) as Aviation Personnel Licence (航空人员资格), run by Civil Aviation Administration of China. Peernovo links it to this occupation.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥79,500 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥55,200 to CN¥123,700. One in ten earn less than CN¥42,000 and one in ten more than CN¥192,300.
This is the figure for the mid group Engineering and Technical Personnel, not for this job alone.
National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
Guangzhou only: median CN¥116,181 a year (2025), middle half CN¥77,050 to CN¥175,622.
This is the figure for the mid group Engineering and Technical Personnel, not for this job alone.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Engineering and Technical Personnel holds 2.35% of everyone employed in China; 17.1% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
48.9% are under 35, 45.1% are 35 to 54 and 6% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 35 to 39.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Flight Dispatcher?

Ways in include: Engineering degrees; Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Aero Engine Maintenance Technology (260603); Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technology (260602).

How much does a Flight Dispatcher earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥79,500 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Engineering and Technical Personnel. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥116,181 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Flight Dispatcher?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026