Alex,
Its been sometime since we last met in Bedfordshire and I am extremely pleased to hear that the 7192 D3 course is still alive.
I have been banging on about the need to get a formal European certificate or even license for Ground Ops people for as long as I can remember. I hold a current FAA (Part 65) Dispatcher license which is a good thing to have but has no relevance to EU-OPS 1. The ICAO syllabus doc 7192 D3 , which is basically the ATPL course is very relevant and all European G-Ops people should undertake this course before they are allowed to act in any supervisory capacity in a flight/network control or flight dispatch office of any UK airline holding an AOC.
The problem with this is the CAA and all the super prima donnas of the SRG who have absolutely no understanding of the contribution to air safety and operational control and supervision that should be provided by ground operations personnel that hold formal recognised qualifications that should be compliant with EU legislation and administered by the authority. It would appear that the myopic doyens of the SRG think that a ground ops department is there to order a taxi or book a room in a hotel for a pilot. The technical stuff is for the drivers only? How unrealistic is this and is a perfect illustration of the puffed up pilot in the role of regulation.
The FAA could teach them a lesson on how it should be done and they would be well advised to re think the role of ground operations in AOC operations perhaps this incident would sharpen their resolve
Air Accidents Investigation: Airbus A330-243, G-OJMC in which ground operations personnel were directly involved.
Many airlines in the UK and Europe recognise that adequately trained and technically competent staff working in ground operations are a vital ingredient to air safety and are the orchestrator's of business continuity. The CAA needs to get a grip and recognise this too.
Alex can you arrange for an alternative to SITA? SITA always charge too much and usually cock things up as well. I do not believe that allowing them to have a monopoly would serve your interests or the interests of the industry well.
Debate:
Ground Operations - what's all that about and what does it mean? There's no definition in EU-OPS, perhaps we should get it banned?