Basil Fawlty,
Thanks for you reply.
Firstly, to aspire to changing something that by definition will be difficult to change is a little harshly described as naive. Bloody hard yes, a long slog, yes. Frustrating, yes...the list goes on. But, the CAA is an organisation like any other, and it must and should be run and governed in such a way as to be fair to those who deal with it.
I would like to make it clear from the start that this is in no way to degenerate into an attack on CAA staff, many of whom do their very best to be helpful. I have had many good experiences dealing with many of them.
There are however a couple of salient points that I think need a mention. Firstly, the fact that the CAA may or may not support airline pilots is not really the point here. The fact that there are good aspects within the organisation is laudable, but in no way justifies the organisation's short comings. Secondly, the majority of complaints appear to fall into two most common categories: Admin and financial. Now, complaints regarding admin delays etc may well be nearly impossible to follow through, but matters financial may well be a different matter. Any organisation providing a service that is paid for by it's customers must be able to justify it's prices and adhere to what must be considered a 'fair' code of practice. This may be a good place to start digging. So far the CAA seem to be doing what ever they like regarding charges, but seem to be completely beyond reproach...
What I need here above all else is mass support, then I and we may be able to get somewhere.