EASA Skills Test Fees

[Airforcejunior]

Good Afternoon guys and gals,

I am commencing CPL training in April 2012 when the transition to EASA is due to take place. I am trying to find out if the JAA CPL Skills Test Fee of £780 to the CAA will stay in place after the transition or if EASA have new proposed skills test fees yet to be publicized. Whether they increase or decrease, if anyone can shed any light on the situation (particularly the CPL Skills Test) I would be very grateful.

I have browsed through multiple EASA NPA's and have found nothing of value.

Thanks again for any replies I do receive for this thread.

[BillieBob]

The fee structure is nothing to do with EASA but is determined by each local Authority. In the case of the UK CAA, the proposed 2012-2013 fee structure for Personnel Licensing is here (http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/1352/PLS%20Enclosure%201213.pdf)

[Airforcejunior]

Thanks BillieBob,

The price of the CPL Skills Test has now gone up to £800!!! Ludicrous! However, it does state that if the test is carried out by a CAA Authorised Flight Examiner (AFE) not an employee of the CAA, then the test will be £534. I would assume that most, if not all examiners who work for CAA approved flight schools abroad are not direct employees of the CAA itself? Or can this be?

Thanks again BillieBob :ok:

[Linda Mollison]

It is proposed that the CAA gets £534 for each test that is carried out by a CAA Authorised examiner. Then the examiner charges an 'appropriate' fee determined by each examiner, PLUS they will be allowed to charge expenses.

AND the CAA will allocate the examiner who is to carry out your test and you will not be allowed to change him/her.

Rumour has it, if you do not do the test due weather, sickness, technical issues, etc you will still have to have the same examiner - when he/she is next available.

In summary, if you get an examiner who charges, say, £400 plus high expenses it will cost you a lot more than £800 and you will be able to do nothing about it.

[BigGrecian]

It is proposed that the CAA gets £534 for each test that is carried out by a CAA Authorised examiner. Then the examiner charges an 'appropriate' fee determined by each examiner, PLUS they will be allowed to charge expenses.

AND the CAA will allocate the examiner who is to carry out your test and you will not be allowed to change him/her.

Rumour has it, if you do not do the test due weather, sickness, technical issues, etc you will still have to have the same examiner - when he/she is next available.

In summary, if you get an examiner who charges, say, £400 plus high expenses it will cost you a lot more than £800 and you will be able to do nothing about it.

That's the way the UK CAA have run JAA CPL testing in the United States for around the past year or so, except it was just travel expenses.
You can request a change if the examiner is not available within a 10 day window of your request for a test which can only be made once you have your 170 in hand, as they require a copy to allocate the examiner.

[BillieBob]

That's the way the UK CAA have run JAA CPL testing in the United States for around the past year or so, except it was just travel expenses.That is the whole point. Previously, the examiner charged only travelling expenses because the £780 charged by the CAA included his fee, which was passed on. Under the new proposal, a candidate will have to pay a fee of £534 to the Authority for arranging the test and processing the result as well as a separate payment, determined by the examiner, to cover his fee and travelling expenses.

It will be interesting to see if the CAA's idea of continuing to allocate examiners is supportable in law. The Authority is bound to issue a licence if all of the requirements of Part-FCL and Part-MED have been met and there is nothing in either document that requires the examiner to be allocated by the Authority, except in the case of the ATPL and MPL Skill Tests. If a candidate turns up at Gatwick with a course completion certificate from a properly approved training organisation and a test form completed by a properly authorised examiner, on what legal grounds can the Authority refuse to issue a licence?