Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromRebecca Y

  Date: 05/03/2024

  Wow!! If this is how they talk about their students, I would never apply to this school!!

• Review fromGloria B

  Date: 04/22/2024

  I enrolled in the Aircraft Dispatch Academy in the October 2023 session with the intention of obtaining my aircraft dispatcher license. Despite diligently attending all online and in-person sessions as required, I encountered obstacles during the final examination process, ultimately resulting in my inability to secure the license. It was suggested by the owner, his staff and the *** examiner to retake the class. I was not happy about this recommendation, but I decided to retake the class the next session which began in January 2024.My daughter and I flew back down to **** in February 2024 for the in-person session the day of the first class on Monday, February 26, 2024. I was met with hostility, and an unwelcome feeling from the owner and a few of his instructors. I talked with my daughter about it, and she stated to wait and see if it will get better. I felt confident in the material, and everything was making sense. I was able to apply what I was learning to the bigger picture of the class. I passed all quizzes and final exam at 100%, I completed all required flight plans, which was signed off by the instructors. I was arriving early for additional help, I set up my mock practical exam with the instructor for Friday, March 1st, which I was told that I did a great job! I was planning to schedule my final practical exam for that Monday or Tuesday, because my flight was leaving out that Wednesday. Then the unthinkable happened.I was faced with unjust treatment and discriminatory behavior from the academy's owner, and certain staff members. I was subjected to disparaging remarks and unwarranted accusations, culminating in a distressing incident where the owner and his staff made racially charged comments insinuating my inability to succeed in the program. Deliberate actions were taken by the owner to undermine my progress, including unnecessary reevaluation of my practical exam performance without justification. I would not recommend this academy.

  Aircraft Dispatch Academy, LLC

  Date: 04/24/2024

  To Whom It May ********* am submitting a response to a complaint/review filed by *********************** with the BBB on April 22, 2024. A similar complaint was submitted directly to the BBB by ************** on March 11th, 2024. An investigation was initiated by the BBB, and after in-depth analysis, the claim was dismissed. However, due to the claim not going in her favor, she is now submitting a poor review.As the founder and owner of Aircraft Dispatch Academy, I have initiated, taught, and completely overseen the operations of this school since its establishment in 2016. Aircraft Dispatch Academy has successfully guided thousands of students through a comprehensive training program consisting of six weeks online, followed by two weeks in-person. Our dedicated team of certified instructors, each with their own expertise, caters to students from various personal and educational backgrounds.According to our student return policy - which no other dispatch school offers - we supported and welcomed ******* decision to return for further instruction for a second time, at no additional charge, due to her unsuccessful completion. During her subsequent enrollment, she encountered additional and elaborate teaching styles by our experienced instructors and achieved a passing grade on the written examinations, a positive development that we were pleased to witness. However, during the in-person mock-practical, we observed similar unsatisfactory patterns as her initial class when she returned for her in-person examination. It should be noted that the online tests (on which she received a score of 100%) remained consistent with those from the previous class, making a perfect score almost inevitable, especially since the test has an open-book concept and can also be taken multiple times.In my capacity as the owner, I have maintained regular communication with all instructors and personally observed Glorias performance during our in-person training sessions. Additionally, we have feedback and test outcomes from multiple instructors who interacted with, supported, encouraged, and tested her, as well as two different **** (Designated Aircraft Dispatch Examiner) assessments, both examiners are not hired by the school but by the **** Those evaluations were submitted to the review and to her. Despite providing multiple opportunities for improvements and additional resources (at no additional cost to the student), including external assessments, it became evident that Glorias proficiency remained limited. We attempted many different evaluation methods, as the laborious testing process could be stressful to some. After multiple attempts with various instructors and ****s (and in 2 different states to accommodate her needs), it was concluded that she was not proficient in her knowledge, it had nothing due to her race, per ******* claim, which is spiteful and borderline slander on her part. This profession is not for everyone; it is tough and rigorous. Passing the *** exam is not based on race; it is strictly based on knowledge. Sadly, ****** lacked the knowledge to proficiently pass the *** exam. To date, ****** is the only student since the school's operation who has not successfully completed the *** exam portion, despite multiple attempts, tutoring, testing, and support.In response, I am also enclosing an email correspondence below from a discussion held on December 13, 2023, where I outlined steps for the student to take after unsuccessful completion of her initial course. As you can see, she was provided more options than most. The five instructors (who are all active and working dispatchers) assisted in her mock-practical as well as the two **** examiners (who again, are not hired by the school), all assessed Glorias ability, and concluded that she would present a risk to both her colleagues and those under her supervision. I have their assessments below in this response (not to embarrass ******, she has seen these responses, and she is aware of the evaluations). I also have time stamped texts sharing full detail of the students testing practices but unable to upload using this format. Again, all *** students are welcome to return to complete the course, at no additional cost, however, ****** selected this route. It is my professional duty to keep all parties involved safe, in the air and on the ground. I could not, in good conscience, falsely endorse her readiness for an active role as a dispatcher for both attempted sessions she attended. Consequently, ****** ultimately did not meet the *** guidelines for successful completion. As a responsible business owner ******* failed outcome was based on HER educational proficiency, rather than personal considerations per her defamation complaint. Email: ******,I understand your concern and the pressure you must feel to accomplish a retest today. I truly hope you can see that we at *** bend over backwards for our students! I can give you hundreds of stories of students that feel like we do way more than any other school when it comes to our student's success in obtaining their Aircraft Dispatcher Certificate. From week 1 day 1 we have always told every student to plan their stays in St. ****** through at least Tuesday Dec. 12th. So for me to hear that you extended 5 additional days "unplanned" seems strange. You shouldn't have been leaving any earlier than today anyway. That being said, class officially ended last Friday December 8th. Even though class ended, we did still have instructors available to help and assist you to the greatest extent possible and within their own personal and work schedules. But please do know this, as of last Friday, nothing was guaranteed other than providing you an appt to test with the **** sometime between the 8th and 12th of December. All the extra tutoring and mock practicals after December 8th were out of the pure kindness of the instructors hearts and my kindness to pay them to help you individually. We are not patting ourselves on the back by saying that, it's just the common desire we share to make sure our students succeed. It is for that same reason that we are the only school that allows students to retake the course for free as many times as they'd like. We have no benefit in not having you pass the test and get your license. We just need to find the correct path forward to accomplish that mission.Here is where we stand as of today.... I have had two of my best instructors ******************* plus a very trusted **** (*****) all tell me that you should retake the class, and even at a minimum you should at least take a couple weeks to study up before even being allowed to retake a mock practical. Even though I am the owner of the school, I cannot just endorse you (against the judgment/recommendations of my instructors and ****) to retest you without one of my "Recommending Instructors" signing you off in IACRA again. That is how the *** safeguards its testing standards with a system of checks and balances. I don't currently have an instructor that is willing to "sign off" on you in IACRA again in order to retest with ***** tonight. You are more than welcome to extend your stay longer in St. ****** to study, but I would expect it to be at least 3-4 more days before an instructor would be willing to do another mock practical, afterwich, you'd still need to retest with ***** which she wouldn't charge you for. If you are unable to extend your stay in **** then I would suggest returning to *******, studying for a few weeks and then we can setup a virtual mock practical to see your progress. If you are good to test and the instructor is willing to re-sign you off in IACRA. Otherwise I could see if my colleague, who is the Dispatch Inspector in ******* (and previously a **** for my school), could conduct your practical test there at no charge.Those are the only options at this juncture. And please know that if you choose to extend your stay in St. ******, that any future tutoring hours that the instructors are willing to offer you are at their discretion and you would be responsible to reimburse them for their time. As a school, we cutoff the free tutoring the Wednesday after class ends, which is today. That doesn't mean you can't return for future classes, but you would have to wait until January 15th once that next class begins. I hope this all makes sense, I am sure it is a lot to digest, and I know you have a lot on your plate right now. Please feel free to call me with any questions. We do truly have your *************** at heart and only want to see you succeed.Regards,********************* Owner Instructor and *** **** evaluations: In fairness, ****** has performed well in the written tests this round (this is her second attempt with the class), but the same tests are the same (as last class). Which poses ample opportunities for cheating. The assessments provide information without a grading system in the class, eliminating possibilities of unfair practices.While generally kind in conversation, ******'s emails and texts exhibit a backhanded and aggressive tone. Despite my unpaid tutoring efforts, attempts to explain or guide her in a different direction were met with accusations of disrespect, witnessed by others. She sought answers to a worksheet that the class doesn't "grade," emphasizing that understanding the process is essential. ****** faced significant challenges, failing assessments with two separate *** representatives. This issue extends beyond the school, involving the examiners themselves. She deceived and manipulated us initially, leading to her sign-off for Dade (the *** representative), a decision I now regret. Post-Dade failure, she repeated the same behavior, and **** (the owner) even allowed her to progress, resulting in another Dade failure with a zero percent score both times. Returning to the second class appeared disengaged, but she maintained a pleasant demeanor while in person. A similar situation unfolded with ****** (an *** Instructor), where ****** claimed to pass a mock exam, but my impression led me to reject scheduling the Dade. She misrepresented the instructor's feedback and subsequently failed the mock again, raising doubts about her honesty and commitment to learning. Her overall performance is concerning, with a lack of demonstration of competence, making others hesitant to associate her with their licenses. Attending class without putting in the effort to learn becomes evident in the final exam, which is not being administered by the school but by an *** representative. At the very least, her performance is abysmal and shows a worrying trend of blame-shifting and dishonesty, overshadowing any genuine effort to learn the material. Certified Instructor: ***************************** _____________In my three years of being associated with the school and meeting students from various parts of the world, up until now I had never met a student so unwilling to be accountable for their actions, and non-actions, with learning the material that they felt the need to make it a racial issue. As you know, we use the same evaluation process/approach with every student, holding our students to a high standard to ensure they are ready for their exams and to be a future dispatcher. If they do not pass their "mock practical", then they are required to study for an additional mock practical. Everyone is treated equally. After the last mock practical I did with ******, which she did not pass, she expressed frustration about the multiple mock practicals that she had had to do. I explained the process again of having to study and **** a mock practical if a student does not pass. She then proceeded to accuse the instructors and the school of asking different questions with each mock practical, and bringing up her race as the factor. I explained that this process of having to study and redo mock practicals is used with every student regardless of gender or ethnicity. The questions that are asked are straightforward and mostly require standard answers, and all of them are directly related to those in an actual exam. The only thing that would change is the way in which a student answers. So, if she believes that she was required to do multiple mock practicals because of instructors asking different questions, it was most likely because she answered differently with each instructor. As far as class time with the online and in-person portions, every student is expected to ask questions when concepts are not fully understood. Not once did she approach me to ask questions about specific concepts, during or outside of class, yet she has repeatedly accused the school of not providing her with one-on-one instruction. Which we offer to each and every student. As a qualified aircraft dispatcher, I do not believe she has the required knowledge of basic aircraft dispatching to continue on and take the *** exam. As an instructor at the school, I do not believe she acknowledges or takes accountability for the need to learn the required material to be able to pass a mock practical and then to pass the *** exam. Thanks, Certified Lead In-person Instructor: ***************************** __________ I spent 6 hours over the span of 2 days going over a mock practical exam with ******. (Typical student takes 2-3 hours.) We talked in depth over all the required topics. ****** did well however there were still quite a few things she didnt know. With that being said I passed her on the mock practical with the understanding that we went over the areas she struggled with and she now understood them. Fast forward to the next day. ****** was working on one of our flight plans and said a flight plan was not legal, when it was. Instead of giving her the answer whether the flight plan was legal or not I asked questions to help spark her memory. I prompted her where the charts were so she could find the answer to the questions on her own. Over and over she didnt answer the questions correctly even though we had just gone through the material the day before. She ended up getting frustrated answering the questions. She gave up saying she needed to take a break and that she was stressed. ****** didnt remember anything about takeoff alternates, take off minimums or where to find the minimums. Im not sure what happened. I feel that ***be she was just memorizing the answers but not truly understanding the concepts that are behind it and how to apply them. ****** understood the concepts when I walked her through them but she couldnt remember them when she was on her own flight planning. She went to take the practical test and she failed a second time. Later she texted me and told me that I had not covered everything and the test was just about air traffic controllers. Which 1- I went way above and beyond on a busy weekend, on my own time, and spent double the amount of time on the mock practical than I did with any other student. 2- Her response that the test was all about air traffic controllers shows her overall lack of understanding of the material. *** the test ******* has done 50+ practical tests and never has any students had those concerns or not felt prepared for their practical test. Overall, I specifically and I know others from the Academy have gone above and beyond to help ****** and its just not clicking. She is very inconsistent. One day she is great and knows her stuff. The next day you ask her about the same stuff and she is a deer in headlights and accuses us that we never taught those topics, which is not a safe practice to have as a certified *** Aircraft Dispatcher. As far as quizzes and tests go. Every student has the potential to do great because they can retake the test as many times as they want until they pass, or get 100%. So its not a great measure of where students are. *** Lead Instructor: **************** ________________I had the opportunity to test *********************** a recent graduate of the Aircraft Dispatch Academy on January 9th 2024. This exam took place in ******* at the request of ********************* to help reasonably accommodate ************** who resides in *******.The was Ms. ****** second attempt at the Oral and Practical exam (Based on the *** Practical Tests Standards PTRS). ************************* had one of his instructors give ************** some one on one tutoring and mock practical to try and prep her for the exam.I have given this same exam to multiple graduates from the Aircraft Dispatch Academy. These exams start at a very broad overview and move into more detailed questions. The purpose of ********* overview is to access the areas that *** take more time on the test and help build confidence to the applicant from the starting of the test.Based on ********* overview, it was quickly noticed that ************** was lacking skill in every portion of the ***** I was unsure if this was test anxiety or if it was a true lack of knowledge. The decision was made to stop asking questions and move to the practical application of the exam as to try and build from there. ************** took a very long time on it and finally quit and did not finish the written exam portion. It was then communicated that she had not passed the exam and a notice of denial was documented.After the denial was issued, I had a conversation with ************** that her best bet would be to join the next class that was being taught live. I told her she had passed he ADX test and that still would be valid so she would not have to try and focus on two different test and that the material would probably make more sense. I also had the discussion with her that she really need to buckle down and study that just passing the Oral and Practical exams would not mean that she was ready to dispatch. Passing these exams only qualify an applicant for ground school at the prospective place of employment. The basic level of understanding was never shown in any of the categories by **************. It is my personal opinion that the applicant did not take the opportunity to learn and achieve the certification due to the lack of her own responsibility. I saw the school offer extra instruction at no charge, let her join the next class at no charge and even accommodate her to take the 2nd exam in ******* at no charge. At this point, I dont know what else the school or **************** could do to help the situation more than they have already accomplished or offered. *********** -___________I am a Designated Aircraft Dispatch Examiner (****) contracted by the ******************************* (***) to complete final testing for a graduate prior to receiving a license to be a certified ***********************************************. I conducted the first test ****** attempted after completing the eight week course at the Aircraft Dispatch Academy in December 2023. Her performance was unsatisfactory and she did not meet the minimum criteria necessary to qualify for a dispatch certificate. I have been a **** for five years and have never seen any indication of bias or preference exhibited by anyone at the Aircraft Dispatch Academy. I have tested candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and genders following completion of the course. Regards, ***** Designated Aircraft Dispatch Examiner