Clunckdriver... with all due respect I think your said TWA course may be a tad outdated and I have to side with nolimitholdem's post. Dubai and this part of the world aside, am not sure how much you actually know about working for EK. I think the vast majority of expat pilots, whether they care to admit it or not, would be out of here in a flash if they had the opprtunity. EK has really crossed the line over the past year or so when is comes to really taking the pi$$ out of its employees to the point of bordering abuse. EK is the biggest lie, the biggest bully and the biggest mistake a lot of us have experienced. EK works for some but the reallity is, it just works...No pleasant place to be right now. Shame it really does not have to be this way but the mentality of the management in this place is so warped that no book or course could ever prepare any normal person for the experience they are going to have. Good luck to all the SSV people out of a job but lots of other things are opening up now and EK is not a good choice even if you are desparate. Their mad dash to YYZ within two weeks of SSV going under just shows how desparate they have become. There must be a good reason for this...think about it. They are no longer an employer of choice and probably never will be ever again...