CAA...Rude or just useless?

[Flashover999]

Not sure if this has been asked before but ...Is there any where that we can complain about the CAA other than to the CAA?
A friend of mine wrote a letter and delivered by hand to the CAA 2 weeks ago and has not even received a confirmation of recipt. The reason for the letter is for an event which is date sensitive and that date is rapidly approaching.
I myself wrote a letter to the CAA earlier this year asking for clarification on something and having received an automated response I received a reply 5 weeks later. this was 2 weeks after the date I needed to hear by and it resulted in me having to spend and additional £1000 on training i didnt need to do.:mad: I thought that 3 weeks would have been enough time to take into account leave and sickness??

Is there any way we can start something to address this situation of untouchable buracrats?

Flash

[JimL]

The CAA have a Code of Practice which dictates the time scales which they have to meet - i.e. to reply to a letter. You will realise that there has to be a system in place to permit an answer to be researched but that will also be covered in the Code.

My experience was that letters to MPs, Ministers or the CAA Chairman were always put into special folders and their progress checked by Corporate Affairs.

Letters from Associations are also effective - especially when they are followed up by face-to-face meetings.

It would appear one favourite medium to complain is already in existence - PPRune. A pity then that the language is not (always) temperate enough to keep the CAA reading. The next time you see an intemperate post on one of the threads, just imagine that you are the objective of that post and decide how you might feel.

Jim

[magbreak]

Have to say I emailed the medical department recently expecting an answer in the 10 days they say on the website and had a response the following morning.

Thanks medical department :ok::ok::ok:

[TRC]

I have communicated with an individual - Flight Ops Inspector or Engineering Surveyor - I have found no problems. Unless they are on leave or a course it works at that level.

Maybe you could try contacting an individual in the department concerned by phone direct - this has also worked for me in the past.

[manfromuncle]

The CAA are about as good as a local government council from the 1980s.

[JimBall]

It all depends which department. SRG seem to be very good at dealing with letters and phone calls, considering that there aren't that many bods in the dept.

Ultimately you can do 2 things:

Write to Sir Roy McNulty, the Chairman. He may not even see your letter - but at least his staff will.
Write to the Dept for Transport explaining that you can't get replies from the CAA.

[Brilliant Stuff]

I was told e-mail is the best way with the CAA.

[hihover]

Flash,

If your friend's date sensitive issue is becoming pressing, I would suggest a phone call to the relevant department.

I have never found them to be difficult. In fact, often quite the opposite. I get the impression, however, that they must be swamped with questions that are already published somewhere else and I can see that that would be frustrating for those answering the emails.

Do you know if the question was posed to the right person/department?

Also, if a decision is sought on something out of the ordinary, then they have to be very careful when answering because they may well end up having to defend themselves when it goes wrong. This all takes time.

I'm not defending them, I don't know what your question or your friend's question is/was. All I'm saying is that maybe there is a reason for the delay. In any case, I would call them if a relevant deadline is getting close.

[RVDT]

First line of the UK CAA Regulations sez " Thou shalt NOT fly unless................"

Kind of sums it up!

[Two's in]

CAA...Rude or just useless?

Don't rule out both at this early stage.

['Chuffer' Dandridge]

I guess it's a licensing matter?

In my 25 yrs of dealing with them, most departments in the CAA @ Gatwick that are staffed by pilots have been very helpful, but Flight Crew Licensing are a useless shower of dung and always have been. I have heard that a letter addressed directly to the CAA Chairman often brings quicker results, or a letter to your MP often has similar results.

As somebody has already stated, the CAA have a 'customer charter' type of thing (cant remember where it's written down), that specifies a certain timeframe to reply in.

[HillerBee]

I send them an email (licensing), and two days later they called me! I was pleasantly surprised I have to say. (about a year back however).

[kiwi chick]

I don't mean to be rude, but, perhaps your friend should have delivered the letter a bit earlier? Especially if it was something of importance, I would have thought two weeks was cutting it a bit fine? I assume that if there was a set date for the event, it was known a bit further in advance?

And the same as your letter, I guess from the dates that you wrote to them three weeks before needing the advice? Again, in my experience with them, a bit more notice might have been needed? :rolleyes:

Not that I'm defending CAA for one moment, but ... :suspect: :=

[Lioncopter]

have a look at http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/3/20070601SRGCodeOfPractice.pdf its the CAA's Code of practice.
Found it intresting reading when i was having a reg 6 appeal with them.
It contains this nugget "Written communications will be replied to within ten working days"
But then follows it with
"Of course, some communications and requests for information require
comprehensive responses which might take longer to prepare. In these
cases, we will acknowledge your correspondence within ten working
days. We will advise when you can expect to receive a comprehensive
reply and who may be contacted on the matter."
When i mention that i never had a response to any of my letters within in 20 days if at all from PLD to 2 members of the CAA board it caused a few reaised eyebrows from them.

Though i have found now that when you find a person in a department who is good, just speak to that person dirrectly. Hard at first but after a few (meaning lots) of calls you get to know who to talk to and cut out the dont know people.

[SASless]

Jim L,

One is known by the companions one keeps.

I am sure some of the CAA staff are dedicated professionals but they are hidden from view by more than a few Jobsworths.

(.....and yes....the FAA is working very hard to catch up with the CAA in that regard!)

At least we do not have to pay through the nose for the privilege.

(Yet!)

[nigelh]

I asked the CAA lawyers for advice on the rules regarding public transport and private and lease flying and expected them to sit on the fence for ever...i was somewhat astounded to have the answers by email within a few days. My feeling is that even the caa now realize that the red tape involved with operating an aoc has gone beyond the ridiculous and i expect big changes in the future , hopefully getting rid of 90% of the paperwork which does nothing to improve safety, but effectively just inflates the costs even higher.:ugh: