AGS Dispatcher School

[ohioaviator]

Hello all,

I'm planning on attending AGS in August to obtain my dispatcher certification and was wondering what, if any, prerequisites I need if I want to take their 6 day accelerated course. If there are no entrance qualifications does anyone know what I will need to complete prior to starting the 6 day program. I've been on their website and from what I can gather it looks like I would need to complete 9 of the AGS exams before starting the 6 day portion. Does anyone know what these tests are? Has anyone completed this course that could fill me in on a reasonable timeline from start to completion? I currently have my private pilot's license and was also wondering if any of that training will carry over. Thanks in advance!

[sm203900]

The most important thing you need to have done prior to attending class is your ADX test, it is the same thing as the ATP written. Have the 9 tests completed prior to arriving, they are fairly simple. Prior flight experience will help you through the class. It would also be beneficial to study instrument flight since dispathcing is done in the IFR world. Other then that not much needs to be done, just pay very close attention during class.

[BigFellor]

Several people I work with went to AGS and were happy with it. I took my practical exam with Danny Mortenson from AGS. Nice guy, very relaxed, but he will try to catch you and teach you something. Since you're in Dayton, depending on how big of a hurry you are in, look into the program Sinclair offers. I went thru that and was quite happy with the instructors there. Very qualified and accessible people there if you have questions and such. And I believe it is about $1600 or so if you live in Montgomery County after you factor in books and such.

[ohioaviator]

Originally Posted by BigFellor

Several people I work with went to AGS and were happy with it. I took my practical exam with Danny Mortenson from AGS. Nice guy, very relaxed, but he will try to catch you and teach you something. Since you're in Dayton, depending on how big of a hurry you are in, look into the program Sinclair offers. I went thru that and was quite happy with the instructors there. Very qualified and accessible people there if you have questions and such. And I believe it is about $1600 or so if you live in Montgomery County after you factor in books and such.

Excellent, thanks for the advice. Do you remember how long the course takes from start to certification and what the name of the course/program is?

[BigFellor]

Originally Posted by ohioaviator

Excellent, thanks for the advice. Do you remember how long the course takes from start to certification and what the name of the course/program is?

Well, since its a college, it's set up like you would expect, on a quarter (maybe semester, I dont remember) system. Basically what they did is took the Gleim ATP book and made each chapter a class. So, the good side is, yes there are 4 performance classes (737, 727, BE1900, and DC-9), but they are basically all the same, just different numbers for different A/C.

How quickly you get thru it depends on you. The minimum amount of time is about 12 weeks (one quarter), but thats a lot of classes in one quarter. But its been done, a friend of mine did them all in one quarter. THIS LINK should work, and list the classes necessary. Since you have your private, you should be able to get out of having to take a couple of the classes. AVT 166 and 168 are the last two classes you need to take and basically you will be doing manual flight planning from point A to point B, figuring fuel, weather, loads, routes, etc.

Another thing I liked about Sinclair is that they use all of PSA's stuff, Ops Specs, FOM, MEL/CDL books, etc. So, when I got to PSA, I pretty much knew our FOM and such already. Plus the dispatch course is all based on the CRJ-200, which is what you will probably be starting on ... not a 737. Much more ..... pertinent info.

Check your PMs for some more info and let me know if you have any more questions.