New dispatching school successful?

mission_aviation

Well-Known Member
From what I've been researched, There is less than a handful of dispatching schools in the northwest states (specifically NV, UT, MT, ID, CA etc.) I know that I had to travel close to 1,000 miles to attend dispatcher school. How many of you came from this particular region I'am mentioning to attend a school far away. I'm considering opening up my own school where I'm employed at as a dispatcher. How many of you believe that a school in this region can be successful and how many of you would have attended a school that was located where I'm considering?

Thanks
 
I'm in the same boat. I haven't been to dispatch school yet but I am looking for one that is relatively close to home. I live in WA and sometimes I think that those of us in the Pacific Northwest get overlooked a bit. It's been hard finding a school that's somewhat close to home. Closest I've found is in CA, AZ, CO or TX. This means that I'll have to board a plane (not a bad part) and be without transportation wherever I decide to go. Not very convenient.

As far as beginning a new school...it is my experience that the dispatching career is still relatively new to a lot of people. Every time I mention it to someone they literally have no clue what flight dispatch is all about. With an FAA stamp of approval and some advertising (among other things)...I imagine that it could take off. I think the reason why a lot of folks in the Pacific Northwest don't look for aviation careers is because it always seems like a person has to relocate to the east coast in order to find work. Sometimes hard to do when everything you've ever known has been out west. It's a shame because the PNW has an incredible amount to offer to the aviation family. My opinion is that starting a new school would obviously have some big hoops to jump through and could be rough getting started, but...every school has to jump through the same hoops at the beginning so don't let the barriers get in the way.

Do you know of any dispatch schools/training programs somewhat close to the PNW at this time? Like I said, the closest I've found is CA, TX, AZ, & CO.

Best wishes,
Av8r
 
Dispatch school is only a couple of months long. I lived in New Mexico and drove my pickup to Florida in order to attend the school I wanted to go to. I could have gone to closer schools, in Texas, but they were not VA approved at the time. Anyhow, my point is that while the school you go to may not be nearby where you live, keep the long-term perspective in mind. A lot of schools (including the one I attended) now have distance learning options to make your stay at the actual school shorter.
 
manniax,

Yes, point well taken. I definitely agree that the quality of the training is more important than location. However, the picky part of me wants to be somewhat close to my wife and family during that time too. Thus the desire to attend somewhere closer to home.

Where did you attend school? Sheffield? What has been your journey since then?
 
manniax,

Yes, point well taken. I definitely agree that the quality of the training is more important than location. However, the picky part of me wants to be somewhat close to my wife and family during that time too. Thus the desire to attend somewhere closer to home.

Where did you attend school? Sheffield? What has been your journey since then?

Yes, I did attend Sheffield. At the time, they only offered the full-length course. They still recommend that one but they do offer some shorter options now.

I got a job with a regional airline in New England about three months after I graduated (was a bit of a challenge to get interviews with no experience, but I persevered) and after a little over a year there, I got a job with a different regional in the Southwest, which is where I'm from. (I probably would have stayed longer, but the carrier that first hired me, Business Express, was in Chapter 11 when I left.) After a few years at that second regional, I left to work at a startup called National Airlines based in Las Vegas. One of my former bosses was managing the SOC department. Anyhow, I enjoyed National, but higher oil prices combined with 9/11 ultimately proved fatal to their business model, and I was looking for work again in late 2002. I found a new job fairly quickly, though, at a regional based in the Midwest, and I worked there for about three years before finally getting hired by a major a couple years ago.

My trip to the majors was probably longer than it could have been, and 9/11 definitely didn't help anything. However, I was quite happy at National, and had they stayed in business, I doubt I'd have left there. Such is the way of aviation. I am living proof that if you persevere, though, you can get to a major. Some people in my class here had a lot less experience than I did, too.

Wherever you ultimately get your license, good luck on your career! I do think that Sheffield is a good school, but remember that any license is a "license to learn."
 
I don't know when you attended dispatch school, but you could have saved some some cash driving all the way to Florida to attend a VA approved shool. I attended IFOD in Dallas, and I used my VA benefits for it. But again, it depends on when you attended.

Dispatch school is only a couple of months long. I lived in New Mexico and drove my pickup to Florida in order to attend the school I wanted to go to. I could have gone to closer schools, in Texas, but they were not VA approved at the time. Anyhow, my point is that while the school you go to may not be nearby where you live, keep the long-term perspective in mind. A lot of schools (including the one I attended) now have distance learning options to make your stay at the actual school shorter.[/quote]

Maybe someone with a extensive background in aviation can a person do distance learning, but I tell you what,I thought I knew it all about aviation before attending school, boy was I wrong. Someone trying to attend a 200 hour part 65 training program online is only setting themselves up for failure. Yes I agree that quality is important and Sheffield has an outstanding reputation of putting out good dispatchers. But in the end, its about having the license regardless. When I was searching for work, the postings for dispatchers did not specify that they only hire from a certain schools. If you get the license wherever you have attended, you will get your indoc, initial and differences training from your employer.

I appreciate your thoughts. So the question is would you have went to a school that was VA approved closer to NM? Or are you a name brand type of guy?:confused:
 
I'm in the same boat. I haven't been to dispatch school yet but I am looking for one that is relatively close to home. I live in WA and sometimes I think that those of us in the Pacific Northwest get overlooked a bit. It's been hard finding a school that's somewhat close to home. Closest I've found is in CA, AZ, CO or TX. This means that I'll have to board a plane (not a bad part) and be without transportation wherever I decide to go. Not very convenient.

As far as beginning a new school...it is my experience that the dispatching career is still relatively new to a lot of people. Every time I mention it to someone they literally have no clue what flight dispatch is all about. With an FAA stamp of approval and some advertising (among other things)...I imagine that it could take off. I think the reason why a lot of folks in the Pacific Northwest don't look for aviation careers is because it always seems like a person has to relocate to the east coast in order to find work. Sometimes hard to do when everything you've ever known has been out west. It's a shame because the PNW has an incredible amount to offer to the aviation family. My opinion is that starting a new school would obviously have some big hoops to jump through and could be rough getting started, but...every school has to jump through the same hoops at the beginning so don't let the barriers get in the way.

Do you know of any dispatch schools/training programs somewhat close to the PNW at this time? Like I said, the closest I've found is CA, TX, AZ, & CO.

Best wishes,
Av8r

Well it depends on how soon you want to go. If my school was open, you would just have to travel to Nevada, which is a hell of alot closer than all the other states from WA. The hoops wouldn't so bad, At my job, we have FAA personnel in there all the time (Only because we are the only airline in their region, not because we're ate up). I'm sure that they would be glad to point me in the right direction for setting everything up. Right now I'm just doing the research on the concept. I know that very very few know about our profession. I had the same song and dance with family and friends trying to explain the job, but they still think I work in a tower. But people who wish to become dispatchers that live in WA, OR, N.CA, ID, MT etc. wouldn't have to travel say TX, FL S.CA to receive good training to pass to written, oral and practical.

Thanks for your thoughts 8.
 
Yes, I did attend Sheffield. At the time, they only offered the full-length course. They still recommend that one but they do offer some shorter options now.

I got a job with a regional airline in New England about three months after I graduated (was a bit of a challenge to get interviews with no experience, but I persevered) and after a little over a year there, I got a job with a different regional in the Southwest, which is where I'm from. (I probably would have stayed longer, but the carrier that first hired me, Business Express, was in Chapter 11 when I left.) After a few years at that second regional, I left to work at a startup called National Airlines based in Las Vegas. One of my former bosses was managing the SOC department. Anyhow, I enjoyed National, but higher oil prices combined with 9/11 ultimately proved fatal to their business model, and I was looking for work again in late 2002. I found a new job fairly quickly, though, at a regional based in the Midwest, and I worked there for about three years before finally getting hired by a major a couple years ago.

My trip to the majors was probably longer than it could have been, and 9/11 definitely didn't help anything. However, I was quite happy at National, and had they stayed in business, I doubt I'd have left there. Such is the way of aviation. I am living proof that if you persevere, though, you can get to a major. Some people in my class here had a lot less experience than I did, too.

Wherever you ultimately get your license, good luck on your career! I do think that Sheffield is a good school, but remember that any license is a "license to learn."


:yeahthat::):):)
 
I appreciate your thoughts. So the question is would you have went to a school that was VA approved closer to NM? Or are you a name brand type of guy?:confused:

At the time I went to school, IFOD was not yet VA certified. That was certainly a factor, but school reputation was also. Nothing against IFOD, I've known several graduates that were good dispatchers. Had they been VA approved, I would have given them a closer look.

At the time I attended, though, Sheffield seemed like the best choice based on reputation, VA certification, etc. The total amount of money I got from the VA wasn't huge, but when you're paying for your own expenses every little bit helps.
 
At the time I went to school, IFOD was not yet VA certified. That was certainly a factor, but school reputation was also. Nothing against IFOD, I've known several graduates that were good dispatchers. Had they been VA approved, I would have given them a closer look.

At the time I attended, though, Sheffield seemed like the best choice based on reputation, VA certification, etc. The total amount of money I got from the VA wasn't huge, but when you're paying for your own expenses every little bit helps.

Highly agreed on that. The bad part about the VA, is that they paid for 1 month and a week worth of tuition, since the course was only 5 weeks. All other expenses were out of pocket. I went from over $6,000 in savings to $0 in three weeks while in school. That sucked badly for us. IFOD is a great school. I hope that I were to get a school going in this neck of the woods, I hope to establish a reputation like the IFODs and Schefields. By the way, if you or anyone would like to teach part-time at my school in the future. Please let me know. Experience is everything and you Manniax; sounds like you have quite a bit of it.

Mission
 
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