> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.planeconnection.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# How to Use the Dispatch Dashboard
> Monitor active flights, fleet status, weather conditions, and crew scheduling conflicts from a single real-time dispatcher workstation.
By the end of this guide, you will have used the Dispatch Dashboard to monitor active flights, track fleet status and weather, detect crew conflicts, and perform quick status transitions -- all from a single real-time workstation.
The Operations module must be enabled for your workspace. You also need the appropriate operations
permissions. Contact your workspace administrator if you cannot access these features.
You need the `dispatch.read` permission. To perform status transitions, you also need
`dispatch.update`.
## Navigate to the Dispatch Dashboard
Open the **Operations** sidebar and click **Dispatch Dashboard** under the **Dashboards** group. The page header displays the breadcrumb path **Ops > Dispatch Dashboard** and includes a **New Trip** button.
## Understand the live fleet map
The top section of the page is a full-width interactive map showing your entire fleet and today's active routes.
* **Aircraft markers** appear color-coded by movement state -- green for airborne, amber for taxiing, gray for parked. Marker positions update in real time via ADS-B/SSE when tracking is configured; otherwise the map falls back to the last known position stored in your database.
* **Route lines** connect origin and destination airports for confirmed, dispatched, released, and active trips. Line color matches the trip status.
* **Airport markers** appear at all departure and arrival airports for today's flights. Hover over a marker to see the station's current METAR category, wind, and visibility.
* **Breadcrumb trails** show the recent track of each airborne aircraft when the breadcrumbs layer is enabled.
Use the **layer toggle** in the top-right corner of the map to show or hide routes, airport markers, aircraft labels, and breadcrumb trails independently.
Click any aircraft marker to open the **Detail Sidebar** on the left side of the map. The sidebar shows:
| Field | Description |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Registration | Aircraft tail number and make/model. |
| State | Airborne, taxi, or parked -- derived from speed. |
| Altitude | Current altitude in feet. |
| Speed | Ground speed in knots. |
| Heading | Current magnetic heading. |
| Last Updated | Timestamp of the most recent position fix. |
| Trip | Trip number, route, ETD/ETA, type, and status if a trip is assigned today. |
Click anywhere outside the sidebar or press its close button to dismiss it.
## Read the KPI strip
Six animated stat cards appear below the map. They represent a snapshot of operations as of page load and do not auto-refresh -- use the **New Trip** button area or navigate away and back to get updated counts.
| KPI Card | What it counts |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Active Flights | Trips currently in `active` status (airborne). |
| Departures Today | All trips with a departure time falling within today's date range. |
| Arrivals Today | All trips with an arrival time falling within today's date range. |
| Aircraft Available | Aircraft in `active` status across the fleet (airworthy, not AOG or in maintenance). |
| Crew on Duty | Active crew members in the workspace who have not been soft-deleted. |
| Pending Requests | Trips in `requested` status awaiting dispatcher review. The card turns red when this count is greater than zero. |
A non-zero Pending Requests count indicates trip requests that have not been accepted or declined.
Resolve them from the **Today's Flights** table or by navigating to the trip detail page.
## Work with the Today's Flights table
The **Today's Schedule** card occupies the left two-thirds of the lower section. It shows all trips with a departure or arrival falling within the current calendar day, ordered by departure time.
### Filter by flight type
Five tabs narrow the table to the flights you care about:
| Tab | What it shows |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| All | Every trip for today regardless of status. |
| Departing | Trips where the origin matches your primary base. |
| Arriving | Trips where the destination matches your primary base. |
| Active | Trips currently airborne (`active` status). |
| Delayed | Trips in `delayed` status. |
### Read the table columns
| Column | Description |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Status dot | A colored circle indicating trip status. Active trips pulse continuously. Hover for a tooltip showing current status and ETA remaining. |
| Trip # | Clickable link to the full trip detail page. |
| Route | Origin and destination shown as ICAO codes with a directional arrow. |
| Aircraft | Tail number in bold. Displays **Unassigned** in amber if no aircraft has been assigned. |
| ETD | Estimated departure time in UTC (HH:MM format). |
| ETA | Estimated arrival time in UTC. Active trips show a remaining time countdown (e.g., `1h 22m`) beneath the ETA. |
| Progress | A visual progress indicator showing how far along the trip is between its scheduled departure and arrival times. |
| Type | Trip type chip (Charter, Owner, etc.). |
| Status | Color-coded status label (Draft, Confirmed, Released, Dispatched, Active, Completed, Delayed, Cancelled). |
| FRAT | Flight Risk Assessment Tool score badge, if a FRAT has been submitted for the trip. |
| Actions | Quick-action icon buttons depending on trip state. |
Rows with `delayed` status are highlighted in amber. Rows with `cancelled` status are highlighted in red.
### Perform quick status transitions
Two status transitions are available directly from the table without opening the trip detail page:
* **Mark Departed** -- available for trips in `dispatched` status. Click the takeoff icon button in the Actions column. A confirmation dialog appears before the trip moves to `active`.
* **Mark Arrived** -- available for trips in `active` status. Click the landing icon button. A confirmation dialog appears before the trip moves to `close_out` for post-flight processing.
Status transitions made from the dashboard bypass the full release checklist. Use this only for
in-the-moment corrections when the release process has already been completed on the trip detail
page. Under 14 CFR Part 135, dispatchers remain responsible for ensuring the crew has received all
required release information before departure.
### Check the compliance gate
Trips approaching dispatch show a compliance indicator in the Status column:
* **Green check** -- all pre-departure compliance checks passed (crew duty, currency, eAPIS, FRAT).
* **Amber warning** -- a limit is approaching (e.g., crew duty at 80%). Dispatch is allowed but warrants review.
* **Red block** -- one or more compliance checks failed. The trip cannot be dispatched until the issue is resolved.
When a trip is blocked, hover over the red indicator to see which specific checks failed. Resolve the issue from the trip detail page or, for duty time exceptions under 14 CFR 135.267(c), use the override workflow on the trip's dispatch panel. See [Dispatch Statuses](/en/reference/dispatch-statuses) for the full list of compliance checks.
Clicking an active trip row (not the Trip # link or an action button) scrolls the live fleet map to that aircraft's position and opens its detail sidebar.
## Monitor the Fleet Status panel
The **Fleet Status** card occupies the right third of the lower section alongside the Today's Flights table. It lists every non-deleted aircraft in your fleet as a compact row:
| Field | Description |
| --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Registration | Tail number in bold. |
| Make/Model | Aircraft type shown as a caption below the tail number. |
| Status dot | Color-coded dot matching the aircraft's operational status (see [Aircraft Statuses](/en/reference/aircraft-statuses)). |
| Location | Current airport in ICAO code format. |
| Next Trip / Available | The next assigned trip number, or a green **Available** badge if nothing is scheduled. |
Use this panel to quickly identify which aircraft are on the ground, which are in the air, and which are out of service -- without leaving the dashboard.
## Review weather conditions
The **Weather** card appears in the lower-left quadrant of the page. It pulls live METAR data for every departure and arrival airport in today's flight schedule, plus the current known location of each aircraft.
Each station row shows:
| Field | Description |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Station | ICAO airport identifier. |
| Category | FAA flight category chip -- VFR (green), MVFR (blue), IFR (amber), or LIFR (red). |
| Wind | Direction (three-digit degrees) and speed in knots; gusts shown when present (e.g., `270° 15G22kt`). Calm conditions display `Calm`. |
| Visibility | Reported visibility in statute miles (e.g., `10SM`). |
| Ceiling | Lowest broken or overcast layer in feet AGL (e.g., `3,500ft`). Shows `CLR` when sky is clear. |
| Trend | Arrow icon -- up for improving, flat for stable, down for deteriorating. |
Weather data is sourced from METAR reports fetched at page load time. METARs are typically issued
every 60 minutes and updated more frequently at major airports during significant weather. Reload
the page or navigate away and back to get a fresh weather snapshot.
Flight categories (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR) are color-coded on each station row. If you see IFR or LIFR conditions at a destination airport, alternate airport filing may be required under 14 CFR 135.223.
## Act on conflict alerts
The **Conflict Alerts** card appears in the lower-right quadrant alongside the Weather card. The dashboard automatically scans today's crew assignments for two categories of violations required by 14 CFR Part 135 Subpart F:
**Crew double-booking** -- A crew member (PIC, SIC, or flight attendant) assigned to two or more trips on the same day. The alert shows the crew member's name, role, and the affected trip numbers.
**Duty time exceeded** -- A crew member whose recorded duty period exceeds the 14-hour duty day limit, or whose flight time exceeds the 8-hour limit (per 14 CFR Part 135 Subpart F). The alert shows the crew member's name and the actual hours recorded.
Each alert row displays a severity level and a **Resolve** button:
| Severity | Conflict Type | Visual |
| -------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| Warning | Crew double-booking | Amber alert banner |
| Error | Duty time or flight time exceeded | Red alert banner |
Click **Resolve** on any conflict to open a resolution dialog where you can adjust the crew assignment or acknowledge the exception. If no conflicts exist, the panel displays a green **No conflicts detected** message.
Conflict detection runs against today's scheduled trips at page load. It does not monitor in real
time. If you make crew assignment changes elsewhere, reload the dashboard to re-evaluate
conflicts. Duty time limit compliance under 14 CFR Part 135 Subpart F is a regulatory obligation
\-- do not dismiss flight time exceeded alerts without documented justification.
## Typical daily dispatch workflow
### Step 1: Check the KPI strip on arrival
When you open the dashboard at the start of your shift, scan the six KPI cards first. A non-zero Pending Requests count means there are trip requests waiting for acceptance. High active flight count confirms overnight or early-morning trips are already in the system.
### Step 2: Resolve any conflicts before departures
Review the Conflict Alerts panel before any trips are due to depart. Address crew double-bookings by reassigning crew on the affected trip detail pages. For duty time issues, contact the crew member and the Director of Operations per your company operations specifications.
### Step 3: Confirm weather at departure and arrival airports
Read the Weather card for each trip departing in the next two hours. IFR or LIFR conditions at the destination may require alternate filing, revised release, or crew notification under your ops specs.
### Step 4: Monitor active flights on the map
As flights progress, track their markers on the fleet map. Click a marker to open the detail sidebar and confirm altitude, speed, and ETA are consistent with the filed flight plan.
### Step 5: Perform in-flight status updates
When a dispatched trip has confirmed wheels-off, use the **Mark Departed** button in the Today's Flights table to transition the trip to `active`. When a flight has confirmed wheels-on at the destination, use **Mark Arrived** to close it as `completed`.
### Step 6: Cross-reference fleet availability for upcoming trips
Use the Fleet Status panel to confirm which aircraft are available for same-day or next-day assignments before accepting new trip requests from the Pending Requests queue.
## Related
Assign trips to aircraft with drag-and-drop and manage the trip queue.
Full walkthrough of the trip creation wizard from request to release.
Submit a Flight Risk Assessment and understand FRAT score badges.
What each aircraft status means for dispatch availability and operations.