Legally, “Brexit Day” on 31st of January is almost meaningless, as all EU law will continue to apply in the UK until the end of the transition period.
So the definite day to get everything sorted by is 31st of December.
Patrick wrote:
I also am not sure where to move to with my license in case I have to. I enjoyed not having to deal with the LBA for the past 6 years.
You don’t have to deal with the LBA unless you have an IR. As a private pilot, the local Landesluftfahrtbehörde will be your point of call, although I suppose the LBA is indeed responsible for license transitions. As a German pilot having a German PPL, I never had to deal with the LBA once.
any FAA piggyback licence would be rendered invalid because your licence number would change.
However if the UK PPL licence also had the same number perhaps that would still make it valid. Does the UK PPL licence number match that of an EASA one?
No. Your FAA piggyback will be gone (I asked the FAA and they were pretty straight on this).
So the definite day to get everything sorted by is 31st of December
Yes, this is what the text I have copied above indicates…
potentially it might still be possible to fly on that license setup even after the transition period?
Well, there is some level of hope included. Clearly we need to see how any agreement may look like, but I would not take it as given that the UK will remain part of EASA since this is an EU agency and all EASA members adhere completely to EU jurisdiction and the other pillars of the EU (yes, including Norway and Switzerland).
also am not sure where to move to with my license in case I have to
I was in the same boat and was considering Austria or Switzerland.
Does anybody know if you can transfer a CPL when all you hold is is a class 2 medical?
all EASA members adhere completely to EU jurisdiction and the other pillars of the EU
Is that absolutely the case?
https://www.easa.europa.eu/country-category/easa-member-states
I don’t think so… Some awfully interesting names there.
DavidC wrote
European CAAs better or worse than the UK for providing timely validation letters for the FAA?
From memory under a week the two times I’ve done it (French JAA then French EASA licences)
Edit: just checked my emails and the most recent time it was done next day
I don’t think so… Some awfully interesting names there.
I’m pretty sure (but clearly am open to learn something new). EASA has associations with some countries based on a sort of “working relationship” or kind of “passive membership”. But when it comes to our topic on pilots licensing, there is hardly a way around adhering to EU jurisdiction; and since the UK made pretty clear they don’t go that route it will be difficult to remain an “active member” of the club. Which is sad, since I believe the UK CAA is/was amongst the better authorities.
Does anybody know if you can transfer a CPL when all you hold is is a class 2 medical?
Knowing would be a bit overstrechted; but since you need a Class 1 medical for the issuance of the CPL, and the new CAA would exactly issue a new one, it might well be you need a Class 1. But maybe the CAA of your choice realizes you would basically sit in a trap when needing to transfer the CPL but not having a Class 1 medical? I would ask them whether they have a workaround?
I would get any such assurance in writing, or record the phone call.
I got shafted over by the CAA this year, when they sat on my IR renewal application for 9 months (due to somebody’s incompetence; their FCL dept is mostly staffed with clueless people nowadays, and they did it only when I wrote to Richard Moriarty their chief executive). They told me I would get a fresh 12 months’ validity but when it arrived there was just 3 months’ left. When I queried it, they asked me for the name of the person who told me and when I said I had not written it down they said they would not honour it.
As regards Brussels saying nothing, that is their game: maximum hardball. It brings delight to many 
In the meantime the UK gives us some continuity for 2 years, etc.
Brussels has done something for airline pilots, and parts certification, however, I vaguely recall, and I wonder why this doesn’t carry through similarly.
since the UK made pretty clear they don’t go that route
I don’t think any such thing has been exactly stated. Everything is up for negotiation, and as with any negotiation (whether haggling about the price of a hamster, or brexit) nothing is agreed until it is agreed
I know this doesn’t help those with EASA papers… again I am more than happy to be N-reg and outside this mess.
But I feel some anger (despair, perhaps, at human nature) that Brussels is again behaving in their usual maximum-hardball “screw you” manner. They could have easily given us all some transition rules. The reason they have not done that is simply because it weakens their negotiating position. If you are buying somebody’s house, you don’t tell the vendor that his house is the only one in the village that you like 
But the UK has been able to behave decently, even though accepting EASA papers weakens their negotiating position, so why not the other side? Well… I’ve been in business since 1978 and never treated anybody like sh1t.
I don’t think any such thing has been exactly stated. Everything is up for negotiation
Well, what I read since Brexit-start was, amongst others, the UK clearly stated they will not adhere to EU-jurisdiction, which was one of their key arguments of getting off from the dictation by the EU.
Brexit playing hardball was foreseeable. Why should the EU give concessions to someone who does not want to be part of the Single Market anymore? They have a cherry picker (sorry, no offense intended) with the Swiss and clearly do not want to have a second one.
the UK clearly stated they will not adhere to EU-jurisdiction
That isn’t the simple case, however. There is a vast spectrum of EU regs. Some EASA member states follow some and not follow others. Others follow some but actually ignore them. In that list of EASA member states I count at least three which are essentially run by gangsters
Hence, FWIW, I think we will see some halfway agreements emerge. But probably not until the 11th hour.
Why should the EU give concessions to someone who does not want to be part of the Single Market anymore?
We did this one before… Obviously the answer will be absolutely polarised according to one’s Leave v. Remain position (as with all of social media) and Remainers get maximum satisfaction from seeing the UK f****d.
My view is that if you were running a partnership (say an accountancy practice) and one of the partners wanted to move on, would you part amicably, or would you set out to totally f**k him, give him a really sh1tty reference, phone up all the local accountancy firms and spread dirt there to make sure he doesn’t get a job there… My belief is that one should part amicably, even if this means the partnership ends up with a bit less money in the bank. To argue otherwise is to argue that revenge is a good way to run things. Obviously, some people are able to sleep at night regardless of what they did during the day
On the pilot licensing aspect, the cost to the EU of providing some continuity would be negligible. I despair at human nature sometimes.
