FG
Will keep you posted on progress.
Mister Rainbow
your comment...
'NO operations course can ever replace the experience of a pilot, chief or otherwise. For an ops bod to assume the responsibility of making a decision previously referred to the CP, on the basis that said bod read about it once, could well be on the way to raising safety issues.'
You missed my point, it's not about ops bods assuming a flight ops responsibility with respect to flying operations, but there being an understanding by your managers that ops officers have a given level of knowledge and understanding appropriate to the environment in which they work. If an ops officer needs the advice of a pilot then he must of course ask, however, to action that advice he must be capable of understandings the issue and be able to follow through on instruction, to do that you need the foundation knowledge.
Completion of this course does not mean you go back to your airline and change everything and I am not suggesting we move to a US style flight dispatch system. The procedures you have in your airline are what you should operate to.
The case for all training is to provide the knowledge base to enable you to do your job as well as you can, and from your company's perspective, to enable you to make the best decisions operationally and economically. Most professions require a recognised minimum standard of training defined by either a regulator body or some other exam board. Pilots to JAROPS, Doctors to the BMA, Firemen to Home Office guidelines. UK airlines now have a standard for Ops officers, 7192. This will, in time be recognised across the industry and the Ops Officers role will take on a much enhanced status as a result and an increased level of trust by the flight ops fraternity.