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Where is the gate agent?

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Ray Proudfoot:
When I was showing a friend the features in GSX today he noticed that whilst the flight crew, flight attendants and passengers boarded there was one noticeable absentee. The gate agent.

Shouldn’t there be one? Not complaining but it does seem like a valid point.

Captain Kevin:
The dispatcher sits in an office at the airline's operations center and is in charge of multiple flights, so no, you wouldn't see the dispatcher boarding the plane at all, given that they could easily be hundreds or thousands of miles away from the plane. Even if the flight departed from the city where the airline's operations center is, chances are it's nowhere near the terminal.

Ray Proudfoot:
Kevin, the dispatcher hands a document to the captain which he has to sign as it’s a legal document. Every major airline surely has this requirement.

Not sure what person you’re referring to.

Captain Kevin:
Ray, the person who hands the document to the Captain to sign is actually the gate agent, not the dispatcher. The dispatcher is responsible for multiple flights at once and is the point of contact for the pilots should anything go wrong at any point during the flight. I know this because aside from the fact that I'm a certified flight dispatcher myself, I had the chance to observe what it is a dispatcher does, as somebody else in my flight dispatch class is also a flight dispatcher. We were nowhere near the airplane, as the operations center is just north of the airport.

Ray Proudfoot:
Hi Kevin,

I bow to your greater knowledge but I know I've heard the term used in the UK and a fellow flight sim enthusiast who is also a qualified private pilot asked me this yesterday.

After some web searching it would appear the gate agent is the term used. My apologies.

So Umberto, where's the gate agent?  ;D

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