Which Schools Offer Long Distance/Self Study Course?

M20B_pilot

Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone,

I have finally decided to bite the bullet and switch careers at 30 years old. I've been a Spanish interpreter for the past 8 years and I'm burned out. I'm a private pilot and am almost 50% through my IFR rating. I've wanted to get into aviation for work for a while now and I think dispatching will be the perfect thing for me. My question is about what schools offer the self study portion and then you go in for a week or two to tie any loose ends before the test. I have a wife and a good job now as well as bills and it wouldn't be practical to take off 5-6 weeks to go to school. That's why I think I'm stuck with this kind of course. So, what schools offer this? Also, do employers look at an applicant differently if they did a self study course?

Thanks!
 
Here is a list of all the FAA-approved dispatcher schools in the US, with web links - I don't know how many of them have distance learning courses but the information should be on the schools' web sites.

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org...s200/branches/afs220/courses/media/part65.pdf

I would recommend Sheffield (which I graduated from) and I know they have a distance learning course, but be prepared to do quite a bit of work. Even the traditional in-residence five week course (which is what I took) is quite intense. You can email the school if you have any questions (that should apply not just to Sheffield, but to any school on the list.) In my experience airlines really don't care what type of course you took to get your license, they just want you to have the license in hand.

Good luck with your dispatch career! Your being fluent in Spanish could open some doors for opportunities dispatching with Latin American companies as well.
 
Thanks mannimax for the reply. After going through the list and calling various schools, I think I've decided on Airline Ground Schools. They have the best looking and most up to date website. With doing most of my work online and through their Power Point presentation, I figure I prefer to go with the school that looks the most up to date. I understand that you can't judge a book by it's cover, but man... so many of the school's website looks like it's from 1998.On top of that, they have a really good price and seem to be pretty flexible with how long you have to complete everything. I like that.

Does anyone have any experience with the AGS distance learning course?
 
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