Jeppesen International Flight Ops/Planning Course
- Thread starter PlaneFun
- Start date
MT
Well-Known Member
I'll start out by saying those courses are a money grab by the schools. The airline will teach you international and ops management when the time comes.
As far as a resume goes, those classes can be added onto your education section as little nuggets that a prospective employer might see, and not care about. You will be no more competitive to someone with actual experience in those areas.
That being said, I took international and ETOPS courses when I was still in school. I took them because I had the interest in the material and wanted to learn it. I knew full well that I would not be using the information at the regionals. Fast forward a few years, I'm sitting in international initial class watching eyes glaze over left and right and yet I felt like I'd been there before. So the class paid dividends 6 years after I took it.
So to answer your question. If you are looking to take the class only for a resume boost then save your money. If you genuinely want an introduction to the material and have career aspirations to use it, then go for it.
As far as a resume goes, those classes can be added onto your education section as little nuggets that a prospective employer might see, and not care about. You will be no more competitive to someone with actual experience in those areas.
That being said, I took international and ETOPS courses when I was still in school. I took them because I had the interest in the material and wanted to learn it. I knew full well that I would not be using the information at the regionals. Fast forward a few years, I'm sitting in international initial class watching eyes glaze over left and right and yet I felt like I'd been there before. So the class paid dividends 6 years after I took it.
So to answer your question. If you are looking to take the class only for a resume boost then save your money. If you genuinely want an introduction to the material and have career aspirations to use it, then go for it.
PlaneFan82
Well-Known Member
I would say it's a waste of time and money. I learned international/ETOPS and all of that at the carriers I worked for.
womanpilot73
Well-Known Member
Personally, I chose not to shell out the $$ for it because prior to dispatching internationally, you'll get the necessary training at your airline. In my case, I was hired by an international carrier right out of dispatch school so it didn't make sense to spend the dough.
Noticing a theme here? ;-)
Noticing a theme here? ;-)
PlaneFan82
Well-Known Member
Additionally, most dispatchers go and work for a regional carrier before going to a major. There is no value added to knowing about international ops when your playing with RJs.
TaxiBack
Plane planes planes
I was invited to attend that very course by a group of airline employees that had paid extra to add it on at the end of the basic dispatch course. While it was very interesting and the instructor had a zillion hours in 747s all over the world, the class was simply too short to cover the info. Every area of the globe has so many unique topics that you cannot apply one rule to say , Pacific ops or North Atlantic ops or Polar ops. They each require a lot of specific training. The Jepp course is just a cursory skimming of the info on basic "international" operations.
I would second or third the comments above. Not in the least bit useful for the real world.
And those folks who wrote in above have the real experience to know what's what.
I would second or third the comments above. Not in the least bit useful for the real world.
And those folks who wrote in above have the real experience to know what's what.
MT
Well-Known Member
To say that the classes are useless like 100% of the posts below my original reply is a touch harsh in my opinion.
Are your airlines going to teach you everything you need to know? You betcha.
However there is something to be said about having familiarity with the subject matter instead of going in completely blind. I will freely admit that I didn't use a word from the international class during my career at the regionals. I took the course because I was interested in it and knew it would be a while before I would have the opportunity to learn it at a major. I don't regret paying the extra money for that introduction as the course was very enjoyable for me.
As I stated before, the investment in this INTRODUCTORY class paid massive dividends when I finally did reach a major. When words like ETOPS, NAT, Eurocontrol and international NOTAM format started coming out of international initial class on day one, I looked around the room and saw glazed eyes, pale white faces, and people thinking they couldn't do it. I on the other hand had a very basic grasp on the material as I was introduced to it and that little bit of exposure made my life during international training much easier.
The dispatch schools that offer these courses do not claim to qualify you as an international dispatcher with the class, they are very up front that it is an introduction and that your airline will take you the rest of the way. Ultimately it's up to the student. I am sure I would have gotten by in international initial at my airline just fine had I not taken the class, but if I were to do it all over again I still would have taken the class just for my own benefit.
Are your airlines going to teach you everything you need to know? You betcha.
However there is something to be said about having familiarity with the subject matter instead of going in completely blind. I will freely admit that I didn't use a word from the international class during my career at the regionals. I took the course because I was interested in it and knew it would be a while before I would have the opportunity to learn it at a major. I don't regret paying the extra money for that introduction as the course was very enjoyable for me.
As I stated before, the investment in this INTRODUCTORY class paid massive dividends when I finally did reach a major. When words like ETOPS, NAT, Eurocontrol and international NOTAM format started coming out of international initial class on day one, I looked around the room and saw glazed eyes, pale white faces, and people thinking they couldn't do it. I on the other hand had a very basic grasp on the material as I was introduced to it and that little bit of exposure made my life during international training much easier.
The dispatch schools that offer these courses do not claim to qualify you as an international dispatcher with the class, they are very up front that it is an introduction and that your airline will take you the rest of the way. Ultimately it's up to the student. I am sure I would have gotten by in international initial at my airline just fine had I not taken the class, but if I were to do it all over again I still would have taken the class just for my own benefit.
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manniax
Well-met in the Ka-tet
I found the courses to be somewhat interesting, but like @MT I didn't use the knowledge for years. However, if I had it to do over again, I probably would have gone back to take the courses at a later date. I was so burned out from the regular class that I didn't absorb the knowledge as well as I could have if I'd taken them "fresh" later on.
69beers
Well-Known Member
I'm going to dissent on the majority opinion thus far, as my personal experience greatly benefited from going to advanced international and ETOPs. My first short-lived job at a domestic airline had little use for these courses. However, my second gig at a supplemental carrier had zero formal training for anything, so the international class came in quite handy. Then I went to work at my current major airline. While the initial domestic training was exceptional, there was no actual classroom training for international back then (other than a very short ETOPs/long range nav class with pilots) and it was all OJT. Even though I had some solid international experience from a supplemental airline, the extra classes I took at Sheffield most certainly helped. Now there's a very robust and indepth international ground school at my airline that covers pretty much everything.....and the instructor is a real mofo!
I say take all the classes you can. To state that an international and/or ETOPs class is a waste of money simply because it is a basic intro is a little contradictory. Honestly, if that's the case then what does that make a 6 week course on aircraft dispatching besides a ticket to learn something when you show up at an airline for real training?
I say take all the classes you can. To state that an international and/or ETOPs class is a waste of money simply because it is a basic intro is a little contradictory. Honestly, if that's the case then what does that make a 6 week course on aircraft dispatching besides a ticket to learn something when you show up at an airline for real training?
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Aeroscout840
Well-Known Member
I took the extra courses and brought them up in every interview I went to. They are an extra edge if you know how to talk about them to a recruiter. Some of the same people who say they are worthless will ask you if they can "get a copy of that ETOP/AIFP/EWINS book you have, bro" That said, if you can't afford them don't wait! There is a hiring frenzy now, and who knows how long it will last.