no sig
I, like FG if you read the post again, am not a novice to airline operations. I have spent the whole of my working life in the industry, this being quite a few years now - I am in my late thirties. I won't bore you with the details, but during this time I have worked for a number of companies, large and small, at varying levels from the very bottom to management. I do not profess to know everything about the business, but I do believe my time served thus far enables me to speak with a certain degree of knowledge.
I have long believed that a formal qualification should be put in place in the UK to ensure that the ops room is always staffed by competent professionals. It is therefore quite understandable that I was looking forward to this course. Unfortunately though, my expectations have so far not been met.
Let me begin by saying that the cut and paste method with which the manuals appear to have been assembled would be at the root of my concern. I'm afraid that, to me, much of the text simply does not "read right", it lacking continuity. Also, whilst I appreciate there is always room for a printing error or two, I find the number of mismatched questions and answers, ambiguities, debatable statements and plain mistakes contained within quite alarming.
Again, like FG, I too have friends who hold FAA licences. You quite correctly state "they have an in depth understanding of their trade." The question is then, if the FAA qualification is the yardstick which it seems to be, why does this course take so many times longer to attain the same level of understanding?
As you have also stated in your posting, you accept that the course content exceeded the requirements of ICAO 7192-AN857 and the next modules have been ammended accordingly. However, The ICAO document is, like any other, open to intepretation. I for one would question whether the course attains the levels of explanation leading on to thorough understanding as required by ICAO.
It would be harsh not to expect the odd teething trouble during the first year of a new course. However, I find myself questioning the integrity of this course as it stands. The errors and dubious content I have found thus far do not bode well for the remaining study period, IMHO.
Best regards,
Mr R