Positive customer service changes deserve applause, but what about Sport Pilot special issuances?

By ANN Associate Editor Juan Jimenez

Many of you will remember a three-part series I wrote some fourteen months ago on the subject of customer service in the AeroMedical department of the Federal Aviation Administration. If you don't remember what I said, the title should give you an idea: "Is FAA AeroMedical Customer Service an Oxymoron?" In the series I related the details of what I had to go through in order to obtain a special issuance third class medical certificate.

A few weeks ago I had reason to call the AeroMedical department at the FAA. I needed clarification on a medical test that I thought I was supposed to take and for which I needed to submit results. I looked up the customer service number on the FAA web site and called, fully expecting to either get a busy signal or have to wait a long time to talk to someone who would most likely not know how to answer my question.

A young man answered the phone in a very cordial tone of voice. I explained what I wanted; I needed to know if I could substitute one medical test for another, similar one. To my surprise, once he had my identifying information, he looked up my record and asked me to wait while he sent an electronic message. "An electronic message?" I asked, incredulously. "Yes, one moment," came his reply.

So, he sent the message and we waited for a few moments. It dawned on me that he was awaiting a reply, so I told him that I didn't think we would get one that fast. After all, don't you know you work for the FAA? After a few moments he said that the reply had not been sent immediately but if I wanted to I could call the next day to get my answer. "Suuuure, OK." I answered and hung up after thanking him for his help. I couldn't help but thinking that I must have gotten through to "the new guy at the office."

Nevertheless, the next day I called, and my call was answered just as quickly, this time by a lady who quickly found my record, perused it and told me that she didn't have an answer yet, but that was because someone happened to be reviewing my record at that very moment. In my mind, I heard this groaning sound that I hear every time I get bad news, so I asked her why my file was being reviewed. Turns out that they were in the process of sending me a letter responding to a written inquiry I had sent weeks before. "Chances are," the lady said, "you will get another written response to the inquiry you made yesterday."

To my surprise, sure enough, within a few days I received the first letter, reiterating that I needed to send some medical information the FAA needed, and just a few days later, I received another letter. This one responded to my inquiry, reminding me that I didn't need to substitute any tests because they had never been asked for in the first place. As a courtesy, I also received a copy of the original letter that came with the special issuance medical.

Credit where credit is due, folks -- the FAA appears to have been listening to the complaints that I and many others have voiced regarding customer service in the AeroMedical department at the FAA, and lo and behold, changes are taking place that are in fact improving this area of operations in Oklahoma.

Kudos for a job well done. Rest assured that the improvements in customer service are greatly appreciated.

A couple of issues coming to mind while I am writing this. What happens when Sport Pilot special issuance denials of the past 10 to 20 years turn the FAA's mailroom into Mount Everest?

In the mad rush to perform damage control after the last minute changes to medical clauses in the Sport Pilot final rule, has anyone given any thought to how long it will take AeroMedical to dig through the huge pile of applications and supporting information that will bury them come September 1st?

It takes between six and nine months to process special issuance medicals nowadays, and that's assuming the paperwork is complete and contains everything the FAA wants to see. How long will it take for these people to see so much as an acknowledgement of their applications after September 1? What about the people who are already waiting for their applications to be processed, will the Sport Pilot rush affect them?

Does the Sport Pilot cost estimates include a budget to hire additional staff for the special issuance application review team? Does it also include a budget for refreshers for all those AME's out there who don't have a clue how to handle special issuance medicals?

All these are issues that must be addressed if the AeroMedical department at the FAA is going to be able to sustain the great improvements they have made in customer service. I sincerely hope that after nine years of planning, and only just over two months before implementation of the Sport Pilot rule, these are not issues for which solutions and strategies have yet to be devised.

FMI: www.faa.gov