Why your dispatch school selection matters
By Mark Thompson
I hope that if you are reading this blog, then you are thinking about pursuing a career as an aircraft dispatcher. Congratulations! This is the first step on your way to aviation’s most rewarding career. The next step, should you decide to pursue it is school selection. Your choice for aircraft dispatcher education is a major life decision.
This decision will affect you for the rest of your life just like getting married, buying a home, and having children. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. So just like every other major life decision, it is not to be taken lightly. So, what things should you be considering.
Firstly, look at school reputation and product. This will take some grunt work on your part. When looking at testimonials on a school’s website or other medium, be sure to validate the validity of their claims, do your research, etc… Talk to people working in dispatch offices. They will tell you how it really is. A former co-worker of mine would blast his alma mater and refer students to a different school.
Why does the reputation matter so much? The answer lies in the hiring manager’s shoes. He or she is tasked with finding the best talent and fit for his or her office to provide operational control over the companies most prized assets, its aircraft. In a perfect world, they would only hire dispatchers with many years of experience.
Unfortunately in the real world these dispatchers are already gainfully employed at major airlines and would laugh at the comparatively low salary they would be offered to start over at a regional airline. So that leaves newer dispatchers that want to get started. If you have no aviation experience and not made a name for yourself, a hiring manager can only go by your resume and your dispatch school’s industry reputation.
As a hiring manager who is now having to take a risk with your company’s limited resources for hiring who would you choose to interview? A person coming from a dispatch school with a great reputation whose graduates you have personally seen do great things in your office or a graduate of a dispatch school who’s dispatchers consistently have been the worst dispatchers in your office and actually have been bailed out by graduates of the first school?
After reputation, look at course content. Any dispatch school that is worth your time will let you know what they cover if you ask. All dispatch schools must cover material required of them in 14 CFR 65. Some choose to go beyond that and teach you how to be and think like a dispatcher. If all they do is prepare you for the FAA Aircraft Dispatcher written and practical exams, pass.
Next consider lifestyle fit and location. While I would advocate every person attend one of the big three, I understand that getting away from work for 5 – 6 weeks may be impossible and you may need a part time program close to home. Before deciding on Bob’s Dispatch School and Tire Center’s 12 week evening program down the street, I encourage you to explore every avenue. Can you save up enough money to survive for a 6 week unpaid leave of absence? Does your company even allow for this? Are you a candidate for an accelerated or hybrid online program? There are options, explore all of them before opting strictly for convenience. If through your research you discover that Bob’s school has a reputation of producing awful dispatchers then under no circumstance would I jeopardize my future for mere convince.
Lastly, consider cost. Dispatcher certification courses run about the same amount across the board. If the one you want to go to costs a little bit more, pay the money. Dispatching is the best return on investment in the industry. Your $4600 average investment yields a job averaging $28 – $38,000 salary immediately upon hire. When you get to the top of a major airline’s pay scale you are making an average $88-$140,000 salary. Compare that to the average cost to become a commercial pilot at $100,000 or more to start with a $28,000 or less salary. Well worth picking a school that may cost a bit more initially, but gives you a better chance at an early payday.
There are many dispatchers out there that will tell you school selection does not matter. They will tell you that all schools are the same and provide you with your ticket. You don’t learn how to dispatch until you get to your first airline. Do not listen to them.
It is true that you learn a lot about “real” dispatching at your first airline, the hands on experience with real flights can’t be replicated in school. Every day on the desk is spent refining your craft. However your school provides you the knowledge foundation necessary to learn “real” dispatching.
The goal of a dispatch school is threefold. First is to build a body of knowledge that will get you your certificate and prepare you to think critically like a dispatcher needs to do. Secondly, they want to help you land that first job. They accomplish this by networking and building their reputation with the airlines. As a former hiring manager I can tell you that I’ve put resumes of some schools at the top of my pile and those of others in the round file just based on what their graduates have done in my office. Finally, the dispatch school prepares you for initial dispatcher training your airline, if you attend a good school, initial will be a piece of cake; bad school graduates struggle. I’ve seen it happen. Do you want to build your career on a solid foundation or on quicksand? The ultimate decision lies with you.
I hope I have given you enough questions to ponder so you do not rush into your school selection. Ultimately pick the school that you feel works best for you and gives you the best chance at success. I look forward to seeing you around the dispatch office!
