[chemgear]

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada...ounding-pilots

Members of the Canadian aviation industry say growing backlogs at Transport Canada are making it more difficult for new and existing pilots to get their licences, and the federal government has failed to address the issue.

“They’ve completely dropped the ball,” said Dario Matrundola, president of Canadian Flyers Aviation College — a flight school based at Buttonville Airport northeast of Toronto.

“They don’t answer the phone, they don’t call you back, and you’re lucky if they answer emails.”

While applicants normally receive their certificates between 30 and 40 days after submitting their paperwork, some of Matrundola’s students have been left waiting more than a year.

“They’re still working, we’re still working — its just Transport Canada and actual government employees who aren’t doing anything,” he said.

“My career and everything was put on hold for six months because they would not issue me a piece of paper that I already had,” he said.

“I had to get my lawyer after them to get it.”

After the temporary 90-day certifications expire, newly purchased aircraft are essentially grounded until the permanent paperwork from Transport Canada arrives.

Students are enduring long delays getting their licence booklets, often long after their temporary permits have expired.

“They can’t write exams, they can’t get renewed, they can’t get their booklets,” he said.

“It’s endless.”