Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By carlmeek
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839154
Yes they call me from a withheld number, and then I email the customer service email back, so presumably can expect a 30 day response!
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By Genghis the Engineer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839210
Well personally I'm going nuclear now. Today is 15 working days since I had a written apology, tomorrow it'll be 6 months since I passed my skill test, Monday will be 5 months since even CAA admitted I'd met all the requirements for rating issue. And I still have no rating.

Letter going to the CAA chairman this afternoon, and lawyers consulted who I'll kick into gear in a fortnight if Sir Stephen doesn't sort it PDQ. My patience is utterly exhausted on this.

G
Ben K, johnm, Dave W liked this
By G-JWTP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839214
Genghis the Engineer wrote:Well personally I'm going nuclear now. Today is 15 working days since I had a written apology, tomorrow it'll be 6 months since I passed my skill test, Monday will be 5 months since even CAA admitted I'd met all the requirements for rating issue. And I still have no rating.

Letter going to the CAA chairman this afternoon, and lawyers consulted who I'll kick into gear in a fortnight if Sir Stephen doesn't sort it PDQ. My patience is utterly exhausted on this.

G


Ask the Boss Man to raise this with the Head of the GA unit when she turns up on the web show.

G-JWTP
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By Genghis the Engineer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839218
Head of GA unit will be a copy addressee on my complaint to Sir Stephen Hillier. I don't think raising individual complaints is Ian's role in life - but I'd certainly be happy to furnish him with information if he's taking a broader journalistic interest in the shambles which is FCL in the UK.

G
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839248
Good luck @Genghis the Engineer hope the twerps finally respond, with the FCL fiascos and a former Microsoft wonk in charge of GA and drones I doubt we'll see the "Best place for GA" mantra looking close to reality any time soon :(
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By MattL
#1839288
I’ve been trying to add ME FI privileges to my licence since September last year and still stalled with e licensing system failures. Still no reply to my latest email and on the phone chap said yesterday I just have to wait for them to respond. My 6 month temp certificate has now just run out so I cannot exercise that privilege now and am stuck waiting. I am seriously considering a small claims court action for loss of earning now.
By riverrock
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839292
I was talking to someone the other day who has had applications within the licencing department for 32 weeks of the last year, much of that repeat work as they got things wrong.
Shambles.
By 602fan
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839294
MattL...my MEP FI last year was a 13 week saga, followed by an unsolicited telephone apology for the delay. Licence arrived next day sans PBN. Removed for reason not disclosed. That took another 4 weeks. 17 weeks in total. I feel your pain...

My examiner certificate post AoC was 16 weeks...

I feel privileged by comparison with some of the other stories here.

FCL is unfit for purpose. Period
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By townleyc
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839296
johnm wrote:Good luck @Genghis the Engineer hope the twerps finally respond, with the FCL fiascos and a former Microsoft wonk in charge of GA and drones I doubt we'll see the "Best place for GA" mantra looking close to reality any time soon :(


Is that why they are so hot on the Covid thing?


Anon

:D :D
By mpk
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839299
MattL wrote:I’ve been trying to add ME FI privileges to my licence since September last year and still stalled with e licensing system failures. Still no reply to my latest email and on the phone chap said yesterday I just have to wait for them to respond. My 6 month temp certificate has now just run out so I cannot exercise that privilege now and am stuck waiting. I am seriously considering a small claims court action for loss of earning now.


I think you can carry on. My application went in and my temp 6 month cert is about to expire so I asked, got the reply below. I take this to mean that the temp cert is also valid until 31 May. Which of course is no different to sitting on the application until say mid-May and then posting it in.

.....Regulations state that a pilot has 6 months from the date of passing the skills test or AOC to submit their licensing application to us. To ensure that individuals are not disadvantaged as a result of the pandemic, the UK CAA issued exemption ORS4 1464 that extends this deadline until 31st May 2021. Therefore, as long as the rating is still current, pilots have until 31st May 2021 to submit their application......
By mpk
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839310
I just got an auto reply from FCL saying....

The standard turnaround time for licence applications is 10 working days, however we are outside this SLA at the moment. Our current turnaround time is roughly 4 weeks.

So for those waiting so far >4 weeks you have something to go back with.
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By Genghis the Engineer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839316
mpk wrote:I just got an auto reply from FCL saying....

The standard turnaround time for licence applications is 10 working days, however we are outside this SLA at the moment. Our current turnaround time is roughly 4 weeks.

So for those waiting so far >4 weeks you have something to go back with.

Personally I think that after already waiting 5 months, I should have jolly well jumped the queue. As for everybody else - well most organisations with a serious backlog problem resort to some combination of restructuring the workflow, hiring temps, or paying overtime (and if you're salaried staff and things go wrong on your watch, frankly, you work evenings and weekends - most professionals do that from time to time). They have just glibly lived with this for far too long, with no apparent will to sort it out.

Anyhow, speaking for myself, letters sent recorded (none of this email malarky) this afternoon: Chairman, cc: CEO, Head of GAU, Head of Comms. Email sent to my solicitor saying "here's the brief, if this isn't sorted by my latest attempt in 2 weeks, I'll pay a reasonable lawyers bill, do your best".

All really f****ing frustrating isn't it.

Incidentally where they refer to an "SLA" - the "A" means agreement. Agreed with whom precisely? I've never heard of any of the members organisations being consulted about acceptable service standards.

G