Years back in the good old Dan-Air days, the CAA were treated as the guru's of aviation. When your line station was due for an inspection, the work stopped and the oil store was polished to resemble Buckingham Palace. They had the power, should they be displeased with your efforts, to shut you down.
You need geezers like that to keep you on your toes. To make sure Flight Safety is an issue before the crash rather than after it.
Today, the CAA, like many other government organisations, is full of beaurocracy
and cut backs.
It is not fair to blame individuals who are in their employ but the blame should be laid at the feet of governments over the years who have let slide.
To most people involved with flying and engineering, the CAA are just the paperwork administrators for licencing. They should be perceived as upholders of the law and safety.
We need a CAA with teeth to spend the tax payers hard earned on positive projects that really make the UK a safe place to fly.
Don't get me wrong,. Am sure they do some good stuff but with a major shake up, could do a whole lot better.
Since JAR and EASA came along, National Authorities have become administrators of systems where no one seem to know whats going on.
We don't want this to be their main objective in life. We want an organisation dedicated to making sure every business involved in Aviation in the UK is working to the same high standards and safety.
Maybe its time for them to get tough again and weed out some of the chaff that lies beneath the accepted standards.
In any event, don't be too hard on them. They have to administer a pile of paperwork and red tape the likes you or I would run a mile from.
Be constructive in your critisisms and maybe one day we will have the good old CAA back!!
Coop
