An aircraft dispatcher describes how weather, war, space launches, and other disruptions can throw airline operations into chaos. In the news, Rolls-Royce on the open-rotor engine design, pilots petition SpaceX Starlink over a price increase, an NTSB board member is fired, Lufthansa changes the carry-on policy for violins, and Barbados controllers stage an unexpected strike. Guest Mike Karrels is an aircraft dispatcher and air traffic manager for the Southeast U.S. with a major U.S. carrier, and he’s also a pilot. That combination gives him a unique view of how decisions get made when things don’t go as planned. Mike describes the aircraft dispatcher as the captain’s partner on the ground. The two share responsibility for operational control of the flight, which means they work together to decide if a flight should continue, divert, or turn back. When an unplanned event hits, the dispatcher is often the first one building the big-picture view: what’s happening, who it affects, and ...