Qué? (EK pilots sent on language courses)
 

I've heard that some of our newer pilots are being sent for English lessons.
Does anyone know if Ed will be joining them.

Dear all,
This is to notify you that you are expected to sign up for the Aviation English Language Proficiency Test at your earliest convenient time. As per ICAO standards, all pilots will need to demonstrate an ability to use the aviation English language to a minimum of ICAO Level 4 (operational) as a licensing requirement by March, 2008.
The duration of the test is about two hours and will take place at Emirates Aviation College (EAC) – North Campus in Meeting Room 2 on the first floor. The test centre consists of 6 testing stations and is conducted over 3 sessions a day; 0700hrs, 1000hrs and 1300hrs.
Please note that the available days and timings are:
Sundays and Mondays 0700hrs, 1000hrs and 1300hrs
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 1000hrs
Pleas book your slot as soon as possible, by giving 2 weeks notice... blah, blah, blah..............



Looks like they expect us to do it on our days off too. They must be joking!!!!

Becassine, where did you see this notice? I haven't seen any of these on the portal.

Not only the newest joiners but all staff will be tested before March 5th 2008. same conditions as Medical should apply. Que sera sera...

heard it will be a required subject as of next year for both pilots and atc.
well, there's goes three quarters of our training staff and more of the flying staff! i can see anti-colonial sentiments roused by this requirement.

interesting item on cnn today. air china had english issues with la guardia new york atc....they played the recording on cnn. the english testing couldn't come sooner after listening to it.

It was put into effect last year for ATCs with some worrying results. All licensed staff that did the test was allowed to keep their license, even if they scored way below the required level. Students who failed had to wait three months before they could do the test again, and if they fail a second time they have to attend a language course.
If the atcs scored a lvl 4, they have to redo the test every 2 years, a lvl 5 you have to redo it after 5 years, and at lvl 6 you never have to do it again.
All atcs from native english speaking countries were excempted and given a lvl 6 without any testing.

Guess most airline pilots should not have too much of a problem passing this test, but will be interesting to see how our friends from Minhad, Al Dafra and Al Ain does....