5
$\begingroup$

My mom worked for United Airlines in the mid 1940s in some communications capacity: she communicated by radio with United aircraft only, and she wasn't an air traffic controller. She went to school in Kansas City in 1942 for communications.

Could anyone help me figure out what her job would have been?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
4
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Is it possible she studied Communications such as public relations, advertising, etc or do you know that she worked with some sort of radio system? $\endgroup$
    – Bageletas
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 4:11
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ she did work with a radio system. she said she communicated with the United planes only. $\endgroup$
    – user25689
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 7:16
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Did she work at an airport or in an office building somewhere else? $\endgroup$
    – casey
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 19:39
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Trinidad, CO was a Continental Airlines DC3 stop long ago. The airport has a huge complement of legacy radio gear related to airline operations. My understanding at the time was that it was a weather station operated by the airline. The terminal building still had the ticket counter, scale, airline offices along with a 1950s soda fountain last time I visited. It was like a time warp. blogs.denverpost.com/thebalancesheet/2015/08/28/… $\endgroup$
    – acpilot
    Commented Sep 24, 2017 at 20:28

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
12
$\begingroup$

Perhaps she was a flight dispatcher?

A flight dispatcher (also known as an aircraft dispatcher, airline dispatcher, flight follower or flight operations officer) assists in planning flight paths, taking into account aircraft performance and loading, enroute winds, thunderstorm and turbulence forecasts, airspace restrictions, and airport conditions. Dispatchers also provide a flight following service and advise pilots if conditions change. They usually work in the operations center of the airline.

-Wikipedia

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

In addition to the duties that @Steve V mentioned, the dispatcher was the person who would provide ground support, such as ordering fuel, and filing flight plans (radio from the plane, phone to FSS). They were also liaisons between maintenance when there was a problem, and would work out equipment changes, etc.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ This would have been better suited as a comment on Steve V's answer... $\endgroup$
    – FreeMan
    Commented Sep 25, 2017 at 13:48

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .