LowNSlow, You might get your Pilot copies quicker by not being a subscriber. I have subscribed for many years and I'm still waiting for the November issue, which others seem to have had since last week. As I live in the Midlands and not in outer Mongolia I find this unacceptable.
Sure, things can go wrong in any organisation. What sorts out the professionals is how things are put right. I have telephoned the Pilot Subscriptions department twice (quite an effort in itself since I had to listen (at my expense) to seemingly endless repetitions of "your call is EXTREMELY important to us" each time. If calls are that important, I would have thought it would be a good idea to have the staff to answer the phone !
I was told a replacement would be sent. When that didn't arrive, I telephoned again (see procedure above) and was told that it took from seven to ten days to send a replacement !
You might find it quicker to use W H Smith.
In contrast to many, I find the magazine good and I particularly like the recently introduced free landing vouchers.