The number of CAA FEs is at an all time low and with the closing of Flight Test Centres one wonders how and where they will train new staff!
I thought that initial IR checkrides will now be done by FTOs? Or ATOs, or whatever they will be called.
Re Schengen, this never meant much in mainland Europe because border checks became ineffective decades ago. It is largely a symbolic thing. Of course, for private aviation, it is wonderful (unless you live in the UK
).
But e.g. Greece always ignored it anyway, for anybody coming in a "vehicle". The only way to get the advantage of Schengen was to walk there, or swim there. There is just one airport there (LGKC) which seems to know about how the system should run, and accepts Schengen traffic despite having no Customs.
N-reg checks have always taken place, mostly in France and Germany, mainly looking for the dreaded certificate of free circulation for VAT. This is a huge issue for UK pilots who have got this piece of paper because UK Customs no longer issue them (they are acting
illegally but thus far nobody has spent the money to challenge them). I got mine in the nick of time in 2005 and anybody who bought their plane after that without knowing about this is stuffed. Denmark offered a route for company owned planes till 12/2009. There only UK route now is via a declaration of market value and paying VAT on that value, which works out very expensive.
That post in the bizjets forum was probably looking for illegal charter. The UK CAA have done the same thing: they interview the passengers separately (out of sight of each other so they cannot straighten out their stories) to find out of they paid. Also, the issue of cabotage can be raised in some cases. You have to watch this and, for example, take NO money from passengers flying in an N-reg and be very explicit about this. The traditional PPL Cost Sharing scheme is legal in a G-reg in UK airspace, and is legal in an N-reg in US airspace.