Become a flight dispatcher at UND
With the FAA’s approval, UND now offers classes for high-demand aircraft dispatcher career
UND Aerospace students are better able to explore another career path as the University can now offer courses leading to certification as an aircraft dispatcher.
Aircraft Dispatcher Certification Courses must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. The work to create the course and meet the FAA’s requirements has taken years, and approval means UND joins the ranks of only 52 other certified institutions nationwide.
The process culminated over the summer when FAA inspectors from Minneapolis and Seattle conducted a facility inspection on the UND campus, then issued a formal letter of approval.
Brett Venhuizen, chair of the Department of Aviation, offered his thanks to the faculty member who helped bring about FAA approval for the courses, and noted that the approval had been a goal of the department for years.
“We are very excited to be able to offer an FAA dispatch program,” Venhuizen said. “This is something that the department has wanted to do for more than 20 years, and we are very thankful to Assistant Professor Samantha Ross and the FAA for making it happen.
“This will be an excellent additional qualification or alternate career path for our students. The aviation industry has a strong need for aircraft dispatchers, and we are excited to be able to educate these professionals.”
Ross said that creating an approved dispatch course has been her personal goal since she joined the Aviation faculty in 2021.
“After several years of working through the FAA’s approval process, I’m proud to share that our department now has its first class of students who’ll be eligible to sit for their aircraft dispatch certification exams in May,” she said.
At UND, students in the course will study various topics including weather, air traffic control procedures, instrument procedures, aircraft communication and navigation, human factors and aeronautical decision-making, and FAA regulations.
Aircraft dispatchers are hired by airlines, and work in the airline’s operation center. Dispatchers and aircraft captains share joint responsibility for flights. Dispatchers help plan routes, conduct weight and balance operations, find performance numbers and engage in fuel planning.
Once the plane is off the ground, dispatchers help monitor the flights and assist pilots as needed. If a plane were to divert due to bad weather, a dispatcher would assist in finding a legal and safe diversion airport.
Pilots are very busy in this situation, so dispatchers help look at the larger picture from the ground.
Students in the course must complete 200 hours of instruction time. One hundred hours will be covered by pre-existing coursework at UND, and the remaining 100 hours will be divided between two new courses.
Upon completion of the coursework, students will receive a graduation certificate, which allows them to take a practical exam with either the FAA or a designated aircraft dispatch examiner. Successfully completing that exam will lead to receiving an FAA dispatch certificate.
