Many people don't understand the importance of an aircraft dispatcher. Pilots respect them & consider them to be an additional crew member. The dispatcher sits in an office environment usually at or near the airlines headquarters. Depending on the size of the airline, there could be a dozen dispatches or 100. The room where they work looks like a military command post. One dispatcher may handle as many as twenty flights. However, the importance of the dispatchers role is that they overlook ahead of the flight & look out for hidden hazards. For example, they will determine if there are thunderstorms hundreds a mile ahead & possibly change your routing for passenger comfort. Although airplanes have weather radar, they are limited to 180 miles range. The dispatchers weather radar has coverage for 1000 miles. Other safety concerns they do are calculate fuel needed to complete a flight, give warnings for turbulence, & weather changes. The dispatchers can alert the pilots of security concerns too. Many might recall how on 9/11 one dispatcher warn the crew of United 91 of cockpit intrusions on other flights. Unfortunately for them the warning came a few minutes late. So when you fly remember dispatchers are looking out for you too.