Aviation Dispatch Institution

Aviation Dispatch is very unprofessional and offers a poor quality of service to students hence the pass fail rate; this is a direct response of the teaching style.I was released from Aviation Dispatch Institute1 day before the last day of class. I was informed that I would not be signed off and go to another school. The sign off is needed from one of the instructors as a final step to have my oral and practical with the FAA. To my astonishment I was not warned, counseled, or advised of my standing in the class. Aviation Dispatch Institute owner, divulged unrequested personal information that was not pertaining to dispatching which hindered my learning process and contaminated the classroom environment.Desired SettlementI would like a full refund. I paid $3120.00 ($500 for books plus $2620 class) to Aviation Dispatch only to be forced to find another school and start all over. Much of my time was wasted. I would not due business again with this business owner.Business Response November 27, 2013To whom it may concern,I am writing this letter in objection to the complaint written by one of our students. First of all, our actual pass I fail rate shows that our program is not inferior. Since our first revenue class held over two years ago, we've had 76% of our total students graduate. 12% of our total students have withdrawn from class, and 12% have failed or have been expelled. Out of all of our graduates, 69% of them are FAA certificated dispatchers, 19% have been endorsed and are awaiting their practical tests, 8% were endorsed but are not certificated, and 4% have not been endorsed. In addition to our pass I fail rate, our course curriculum and policies have met the approval of the FAA's requirements since our initial authorization in July, 2011.In regards to the student's experience, they first attended our course in January 2013, from which they attended over 225 hours of instruction above and beyond the amount that the FAA requires, and graduated on March 15, 2013. Per Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 65.53(b), an applicant for an aircraft dispatch certificate must have passed the required FAA aircraft dispatcher knowledge test (ADX.) The score report showing the test was passed, in addition to an endorsement on the application for an FAA aircraft dispatcher certificate must be given to the FAA designated practical examiner upon appearing for the FAA aircraft dispatcher practical test. The student did not pass the ADX test until their second attempt on July 1, 2013. 14 CFR 65.70(b), requires that our graduation certificates are only valid for 90 days. Due to the student taking more than 90 days from their graduation date to pass their ADX, they were ineligible for an endorsement for the FAA practical test at that time. We would only be able to revalidate their graduation certificate for an additional 90 days if they remained proficient in the subjects found in 14 CFR 65 Appendix A. In order to meet this requirement, the student attended our course for a second time at no additional charge . Let me also add that throughout the entire first attempt at our course, and the time leading up to their second attempt, the student did not complain or bring to our attention that they were unhappy with our service.Throughout the majority of the first week of class during their second attempt, the student was not paying attention and was using personal electronic devices instead. This behavior, in addition to the student not being prepared for class on multiple occasions led us to have a conversation with them within the first week of class stating that these actions were unacceptable and needed to stop. For a period of time, this behavior was stopped, but reoccurred later on in the course. In addition to these issues, the student failed two class tests, one of which being the final test. We ended up expelling the student on October 3, 2013, 6 days after the scheduled class finish date, due to their lacking performance in the class. The student did not meet the knowledge, skill, or attitude requirements of the FAA practical test standards, which prevented us from endorsing her for her practical test, as the FAA requires instructors to only endorse students for practical tests if they truly believe the student is capable of passing the test. At the time of expulsion, the student was unable to answer the majority of practical knowledge questions given to them without looking up answers repeatedly, still after attending over two full courses.As far as the student not knowing the required performance in class, on the first day of both classes they attended, we thoroughly went over our student handbook which includes our policies regarding use of personal electronic devices, unacceptable behavior, testing and grading, graduation requirements and endorsement requirements. Our policies also state that attending and/or graduating the course in no way guarantees an endorsement to take the FAA aircraft dispatcher practical test or earn an FAA aircraft dispatcher certificate, but rather the student's ability to meet the requirements of the FAA aircraft dispatcher practical test standards is the only way of receiving an endorsement, which we repeatedly reminded our students of in both classes this student attended. In addition to our going over these policies on the first day of both of the student's attempts at our course, these policies did not change between course attempts.In response to the student's statement regarding our teaching style and classroom environment, we explain our class material in numerous ways in order to help students having comprehension problems understand the material. On numerous occasions we offered additional tutoring to which the student would decline almost every time until the end of the second attempt at the course. In addition to the offered tutoring, we regularly reminded our students that when they have any questions they can feel free to call or email us via our personal phone numbers for help virtually 24/7. This student also did not take advantage of this benefit. We have had many classes in the past where students not only succeeded, but where students will repeatedly come back and thank us for our service. In the first class that this student was in, the other students had no issues with our teaching style or classroom environment. The other students who attended this student's second attempted class also had no issues with our teaching style or classroom environment and performed much better than this student while also working part-time jobs overnight. Other classmates of this student have also complained to us regarding this student's disruptive and disrespectful behavior in class, stating it was a distraction for those who were there to learn.Our company only employs instructors that have previously worked as 14 CFR Part 121 aircraft dispatchers at an airline and who hold FAA aircraft dispatcher certificates. Our instructors regularly attend recurrent training events to continuously improve their craft. We've also had multiple airline managers tell us that our graduates are very well prepared for working at their airline. We have had many successful students go on and become great aircraft dispatchers. With this being said, since the safety of the flying public is in mind, this course, like most aircraft dispatcher courses, is very challenging and requires self-motivation and discipline to successfully complete and become an FAA certificated aircraft dispatcher and not everybody meets this challenge. Even more challenging is the training received after being hired as a dispatcher at an airline, where little to no second chances are given. We routinely go out of our way to help our students, but where other students took our help and performed well, this student repeatedly made excuses and did not perform to our requirements or the FAA's requirements for receiving an endorsement for attempting the FAA aircraft dispatcher practical test.Sincerely,Final Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)This is my response to the letter from ADI. If you have 5 students and 1 passes that is a 20% pass rate. This was the makeup of the first class I attended. I had a death in the family which created other personal things to deal with so my 90 days went by and I had to retake the class. This was a hard pill to take because of the unprofessionalism I had endured the first time. There were several nights I and two others left in tears because we were so frustrated with how the class was going and feeling empty because we did not feel that we were being taught when spending hours on end of hearing someone read to you. We felt helpless because we were told this is an FAA requirement. I have since learned this was not true because I talked to the FAA personally. The FAA does want certain information covered but how is the decision of the instructor. The decision to read to adults is the sign of weak instructors. There are only 2 instructors; one was fired as a dispatcher and the other left before he got fired. The humor is that they are the school. Neither is familiar with the information enough to simply be able to just talk. To sit in a class to hear someone read to you like your in kindergarten is painful. Try listening from 7 different books with a few YouTube videos to break up the boring monotone voice being heard. To brag that you have been doing this for 2 years in this fashion is lazy and lacks progression. Bragging or fudging on a 76% graduation is interesting because when I made a 76 on a test that was failing. This course is like the hand book presented to students, very opened ended. The students are held to a standard but the instructors are not. Example: "you will begin to learn about topics most important to aircraft dispatchers." Personal Electronic Device Policy, students are not allowed to look up information on their device but the instructor can have a 45 minute conversation in class to the attorney, and police. As a student I should not be included in personal topics such as divorce, child custody, and sex change. So with these topics thrown in daily, I did not receive over 225 of instruction.If you have a solid aviation background i.e. private pilot or similar, you can be successful in this environment, these are the type of students ADI prefers because there is very little work to be done because the student probably knows more than the instructor in some cases. In the end ADI takes all the credit for getting the student ready when in fact they came ready because of the number of flight hours or aviation knowledge already in place. I failed the ADX, in the first class. I listened to instructors who warned against using the software from Sheffield, an older more experienced better school. However in my second class students were told to use it, "it's an easy way to pass the ADX." Interesting, this change had come about because students were not passing the test and this was affecting the school pass/fail rate. Even though I did not pass my ADX the first time I still continued to go to class and practice the oral. This went on for 2 weeks so to say I did not utilize the instructors is not true. I called and texted outside of class and on 2 occasions I did not get a response for which I have proof. In my second class there were 4 students only 1 passed. I and one other were kicked out. After a very suspect attempt of an oral I was told to leave. All of this and more I have recorded. Example: What would you do as a flight attendant if the captain called and said the FO had passed out in the cockpit? My answer: I'm not a flight attendant, I am studying to be a dispatcher.Disruptive or disrespectful is not true, but it sounds good. Karma will take care of this one.