Definition
The authorization or release of an aircraft for a specific flight after confirming that the aircraft, crew, equipment, and operational conditions meet all applicable airworthiness, regulatory, and operational requirements. In the context of a Minimum Equipment List (MEL), an aircraft may be dispatched with certain inoperative items only if the MEL specifically permits it under the stated conditions and limitations.
Plain English
The official go-ahead to send the aircraft on a flight, given only after checking that the aircraft and conditions meet the rules for that flight.
Context Anchor
Seen when deciding whether an airplane with an inoperative item may legally begin a flight under a Minimum Equipment List.
Derivation
From the Latin 'dispatchare,' meaning to send off or release. In aviation it carries that same sense: officially releasing the aircraft to go.
Why Pilots Care
Dispatching a flight that does not meet MEL or regulatory conditions can make the flight illegal and unsafe, even if the aircraft seems flyable. The dispatch decision is the legal gate between a parked aircraft and a flying one.
Intuition Check
Dispatch does not just mean “send” in the everyday sense. Here it means releasing an aircraft for a flight only after the required safety and legal checks have been satisfied.
Example Sentence 1
The aircraft could not be dispatched until the inoperative landing light was deferred under the MEL and the placard was installed.
Example Sentence 2
After the mechanic signed off the deferred item, the flight was dispatched on schedule.