Q
& A
ETOPS
(Extended Range Operations) Course
1.
Do all of your graduates attend the ETOPS course?
No,
approximately 25-50% typically attend the course following graduation.
Some attend at a later date.
2.
What is the duration and cost of the course?
One
day and $200.00 for Sheffield graduates, respectively. ($400.00
for others.)
3.
Why do you charge for this course while another school claims it should
be free.
We
actually have material to teach. We have a live instructor to give
scenarios concerning complex situations. We have the ability to answer
questions and alter our given examples with overhead slides as well
as graphically planning multiple ETOPs flights on our computers. The
student receives valuable feedback.
You
won't be placed in front of a terminal to "teach yourself."
You won't be waiting for "beeps" to move on. CBT courses
are substitute courses for schools without the ability and/or manpower
to be creative and instruct. Those courses SHOULD be free. You get
what you pay for. [One "school" actually has their students
simply view Powerpoint slides without any interaction whatsoever...other
than perhaps hitting the "next slide" key.]
We'd
love for these "free" courses to vanish, but we do get a
kick out of having the occasional GRADUATE from such a course ask
us to attend our course.
4.
Do you provide an ETOPs manual with your course as a reference?
Absolutely!
We supply a thick manual for all our courses along with extra plotting
charts, enroute charts, orientation charts, flight planning charts,
weather and computer flight plan printouts.
5.
Do other schools offer the same?
We don't
know what is currently provided, if anything. No other school seems
interested in advertising what they provide or don't. We did have
a graduate of another school attend our accelerated course (you can
deduce why) and show us his ETOPS manual booklet. It is in
the middle of the picture below. It is sandwiched by our AIFP notebook
(left) and ETOPs notebook (right).
Then
again, the only paper you may receive is the completion certificate.
Just ask if you need to draw comparisons.
6.
Do you provide a completion certificate?
Yes.
7.
I've talked to some airlines that claim ETOPS can be taught at the airline
if I need it. Why should I take your course?
Until
the airlines (there have been many) stop calling Sheffield for the
answers to ETOPS questions, you should consider learning good habits
and creative thinking by attending our course.
In addition,
many airlines, including the former head of Operations at a large
international airline told us that he personally appreciated Sheffield
teaching ETOPS before
the graduates enter airline training.
8.
Can you give an example of a typical question that is debated within
the industry?
Let's
just say there are a lot of viewpoints concerning the application
of "maximum diversion
time" on a flight plan, as well as alternate minimum calculations
and critical fuel assumptions.
9.
Can you be more specific?
Sure,
feel free to enroll anytime.
10.
Do all schools teach ETOPS?
No. In
fact, some of those schools that do not, will not, or
can not instruct this course attempt to dismiss ETOPs or try
to criticize us for doing something original. Other schools simply
try to copy us. If they can't copy us, they try to discredit training
that is valuable whether you dispatch ETOPs or not early in your career.
Recently we've been criticized by yet another dispatch-school-wannabe
that is non-FAA-approved, has no permanent location, has no staff,
and is one of three different spinoffs from another school which has
been in business approximately 4 decades less than Sheffield.
Feel
free to browse our testimonials.
Ask yourself why:
is
one of many airlines that have attended our course.
(see our Newsletter)
Contact
us at:
499
NW 70th Ave Suite 110
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33317 - USA
Tel 800-843-8289, 954-581-6022
Fax 954-584-8980
email morris@sheffield.com
