CAA complaints policy

About this policy

The CAA is committed to providing a high standard of service to everyone we deal with. For this reason, we welcome any comments about our service, including when we get things wrong. We want to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. We will listen to complaints, treat them seriously, respond to them swiftly and learn from them so we can improve our service.

For more details, please refer to our Complaints Policy.

If you have any comments or feedback that does not constitute a complaint, we would still like to hear from you so we can improve our service and the way we do things. You can find contact details on the contact us section of our website.

What is a complaint?

We define a complaint as:

An expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions, or lack of actions by us, affecting an individual or group of customers / stakeholders.

This policy covers complaints about:

• the standard of service we provide
• the behaviour of our staff
• any action or lack of action by our staff affecting an individual or group
• any unfair treatment of stakeholders by members of our staff (except where it is considered that another process or a referral to the CAA’s Office of the General Counsel is more appropriate)
• the administration of decisions we have made and the process we have followed (except where the process is separately set out in legislation)

Our policy does not cover:

• matters where legal action is contemplated or has already commenced against us, any of its subsidiaries or the Air Travel Trust. In such circumstances, the communication will be forwarded to the CAA’s Office of the General Counsel.
• matters that have already been fully investigated through this complaints procedure
• anonymous complaints
• complaints about access to information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 or the Data Protection Act 1988-2018
• decisions in respect of licenses, authorisations or approvals as the review procedures are set out in legislation (such as Regulation 6 of the Civil Aviation Authority Regulations 1991, Part 5 of the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations 2012, the Operation of Air Carriers Regulations 2009)
• regulatory decisions we make under our statutory functions including the process we have followed to reach them
• complaints about the behaviour or actions of third parties or bodies we regulate
• consultations or proposals where we have not yet reached or published a decision
• decisions made about, or outcomes of, consumer complaints
• Complaints that are considered to be vexatious or attempt to raise the same or materially similar issues to those already dealt with (please see the Unacceptable or Unreasonable behaviour section below for more details)

Accessibility

We aim to ensure that our complaint handling process is accessible to all customers / stakeholders. If you do require support or assistance in making a complaint do please let us know by calling 0330 022 1500 and ask to speak with a member of the CAA Complaints Team (not the Passenger Advice & Complaints Team). Please note, anyone within the CAA can take a complaint over the phone if that is a requirement. It may, however, be that a friend of relative, local Citizens Advice or other organisation can assist you in making your complaint and communicating with us generally. For independent advice and support services, please reach out to your local Citizens Advice.

For more details, please refer to our Reasonable Adjustments Policy.

Unacceptable or Unreasonable behaviour

If a complainant becomes unreasonably persistent or demanding, we may exercise our discretion to minimise or control our dealings with complainants. The complainant will be given clear advice and reasons why.

For more details, please refer to our Unacceptable and Unreasonable Behaviour Policy.