Good point, let me try to clary the process.
I have complete 8 certifications in my life from scratch, I have worked with FSDO's that finished in 6 months and I worked with other FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) for the exact same certification and it took 6 years. Usually this is due to the laziness of FAA.
There are some really good FSDO's out there and some are totally useless. It come down to how strong the CPM is(certification Project Manager), Usually a very experienced FAA Inspector.
Phase II is nothing more than a meet and great, FAA meets the player and discuss the process.
Baltia made a mistake by using DTW FSDO, with their operation in NY JFK. There are and have been several travel restrictions for FAA, just read the paper, this will slow down the process tremendously. These Inspectors have other outfits that they are controlling and it can become a scheduling nightmare.
To me it sound like the initial Baltia management cadre was very in experienced and the deliberation of FSDO was not vetted fully.
The Choice of DTW was made most likely due to the presence of Kalitta Air. Connie supplied their training, aircraft and parts.
