LETU Successful with Aircraft Dispatcher Certificates

LONGVIEW — LeTourneau University has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration as the first Christian university to offer aircraft dispatcher courses to prepare students to take and pass needed exams to receive their FAA Aircraft Dispatcher Certificates. To date, six of six students who took the inaugural dispatch course during the summer have passed the practical test on their first attempt with the FAA, according to Laura Laster, director of flight operations. “I am thrilled with the success of our first six Aircraft Dispatcher students!” Laster said. “That’s a great testament to the work ethic and caliber of the students in our LETU School of Aviation.”

This set of two courses is part of the Aviation Management with Air Traffic Control concentration. Other students also can take the courses as long as they meet the course prerequisites. Only 49 institutions in the world have been approved by the FAA to offer courses for this certificate.

Each commercial airline flight in the United States requires an aircraft dispatcher assigned to it to agree with the flight crew that the flight can be operated safely. The dispatcher also is required to monitor the progress of every flight as it operates until it arrives safely at its destination. Dispatchers are highly trained in weather analysis, flight planning, aircraft load planning, aircraft systems and performance, emergency operations, and airline security, among other topics.