General questions/training in Chicago

[belgiumania]

. Pinnacle is hiring 40-50 dispatchers by May for their OCC in MSP

What in the pho?

40 fresh dispatchers in training and then running an airline? That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Hondo Calrissian]

I will continue the off-topic for moment, my question is, how hard is it to get certified by FAA to open up a school like that?

It is easy to start a school but the the FAA has to check you out and certify you a part 65 school....

 

[M20B_pilot]

I've only got a PPL, so I don't have much in the way of previous aviation experience.

I'm open to moving for a job if there are no other options, I'd just prefer to stay in Chicago. Training, however... there's simply no way for me to leave the city for several weeks and still have enough money to live on once I return. With that said, I started looking into the online program with the fast-track classroom instruction by AGS that ____**** mentioned, and it looks interesting. I'm still trying to figure out the benefits of training at Jeppesen versus the money saved by doing the online program. Do any of you have experience with AGS? Also, do airlines prefer hiring dispatchers that trained primarily through in-class instruction, or do they not care so long as you've got the cert? At this point, I'm deciding whether or not I should bite the bullet and take out a loan large enough to train with Jeppesen.

I'm going through the AGS Distance Course right now and I like it. I wasn't crazy about it at first since the first few online lessons had (in my opinion) lousy "instructors". But as the course goes on, the instructors are much better and I actually feel like they're teaching. The info is presented in a powerpoint like presentation with audio of the instructor covering the info. I like that since you don't have to just read stuff off the screen. They also have quite a few videos and interactive courses. I talked to someone who did the online/distance course from Sheffield and he said that it was all reading slides on your own with no audio.

As far as the money aspect, I was going to take out a personal loan to do the course, but AGS has a neat monthly pay plan. You pay a $595 deposit when you sign up and they'll give you the login for the online stuff and send you a CD with hundreds of pages of info you have to print off. Then, they divide the remaining balance between the months you have before you start the week long classroom portion and charge you that every month. So, I signed up in Dec and paid the $595. I go to the classroom portion in June and have been paying $400 a month to pay off the remaining balance. I didn't have to take out a loan or pay interest. Good luck!

 

[LawDXer]

It is easy to start a school but the the FAA has to check you out and certify you a part 65 school....

FALSE!!

It is not as easy as one thinks from what I been told, you have to have an outlined curriculum given to the FAA and make sure you meet FAR 65 subpart C. The once that is approved, you will have the FAA in you class to make sure you are following that and meeting the requirements.

 

[F9DXER]

Agree with LawDXer

You'd be surpirsed at what the FAA actual looks at besides the curriculum, which they have to approve.

Other things they will look at, size of the classroom, testing area, lighting, space for each student, ancillary material, other instructors qualifications, and record keeping just to name a few items. The list is longer than you would imagine and it seems to go on and on and on.

Besides that, there is the normal building requirements that your city/state require.

Ask your local FSDO for that information.

 

[Hondo Calrissian]

I know they were trying to open a school here in Vegas, I believe it was thru the Pan-am academy which has a training center here. They had one class in 2012 but from what I was told they didn't have a lot of interest in the class which surprises me because a few of the agents I supervised in reservations wanted to be dispatchers.

Also, from what I heard the College of Southern Nevada is trying to get a program started but is on hold due to budget issues.

 

[manniax]

I know Sheffield ran a course in SGU once that was on SkyWest property. However they had trouble getting a continuing interest for the course, because the costs and tuition were higher than at their main campus (flying out an instructor to SGU, etc.) and as far as I know they haven't had any classes since. There was at one time a web site for that course at sheffieldwest.com but now I think it just directs to the main school site.