Over the past six months, I’ve experienced significant delays with the FAA Aeromedical Certification Division despite having fully submitted all required documentation and receiving clear medical clearance from my treating physicians. The delay has been entirely administrative in nature, including repeated requests for records already provided and issues with internal processing of submitted materials. Even with my AME directly contacting the FAA on my behalf, he has encountered the same inability to obtain meaningful information or progress. When calling to check status, pilots are typically met with civilian staff who can do little more than read from a limited “notes” screen, offering no real insight into the review process.

Compounding the issue, medical packets sent via overnight delivery, often at significant personal expense, can sit in FAA mailrooms for up to three weeks before being uploaded into the system, further delaying review timelines. At present, there appears to be no effective mechanism for escalation or intervention short of contacting a congressional office. This lack of transparency and process control has placed my employment as a FAA Part 135 pilot at risk and created operational strain for my employer. While there are indications the FAA may be working to modernize the special issuance review process, the current system is clearly falling short and is negatively impacting pilots, operators, and ultimately the flying public, especially in the context of an already constrained pool of qualified pilots. What should have taken no more than 6 months to return to active flight status, is now approaching the 1 year mark... This is unacceptable by any standard!

Has anyone else had similar problems recently or has this been a long-term problem?

Send it via EMail!!!

Ha! The FAA medical branch doesn’t accept emails from pilots. Some AME’s if they have an insider contact.

Just accept the FAA deemed you medically unfit, retire and become a Walmart greeter. Time to hang up the wings. 

I learned when contacting local FSDO via phone W/questions it went to voice message, never to hear back. Then Email comes along & guess what, rapid response why? Because of traceability, once it's out there they can't deny they got it !! Plus you proof in your sent folder too!

I feel your pain. Had a very recent similar experience. Unfortunately for all of us, once you make the step to declare an issue, you just opened that door for the FAA. 

Most important, going to any doctor for anything, is to think hard what you tell them. In todays age every comment you make is written down and will appear in doctors note. This is what happened to me. The list I got from the FAA on documents to submit would have resulted in about 1000 pages. Mostly dermatologist notes. This for something that had been declared on the medical application 15 years back.

Anyway, my AME cut all this down to 5 Pages(!!) after a phone call with the FAA. To my surprise I got my medical back within 5 days after upload of the docs. 

My recommendation to anyone: If you know you have an issue, go to a hospital that is specialized for pilot/FAA issues. 

https://clearapproach.mayoclinic.org/Public/Index.aspx

And then there is always the phone call and a letter to your congress man. Helped me more than once in the last 30  years.

Good luck!