A question we sometimes get from pilots who come to us after receiving a letter from the FAA is: “Why does your Action Plan look so similar to what the FAA already asked for?”
It’s a fair question—and the answer reveals a lot about how the FAA medical certification process works, where pilots run into trouble, and where Wingman Med adds the most value.
The Best Time to Call Us: Before the AME Exam
Let’s start with a truth that can save you time, stress, and often months of delay:
We can do the most good when you contact us before you ever sit down with an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME).
At that stage, we are operating in preparation mode. We can identify potential medical certification issues early, help you gather the right documentation, allowing you to coordinate evaluations, and present everything in a way that aligns with FAA expectations from the outset. When done correctly, this often leads to smoother certifications and, in many cases, avoids unnecessary deferrals altogether.
Once you’ve already had your AME exam and received a letter from the FAA, the situation changes. Now we’re in reaction mode. The FAA has already reviewed your case—at least partially—and has decided more information is needed. That letter becomes the starting point, not the strategy.
And that distinction matters.
FAA Letters: Helpful, But Not Always Complete
When the FAA sends a letter requesting additional information, it is addressing what they have identified so far. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it captures every issue that could affect your certification.
We’ve written in detail about this dynamic in our article on the Gatekeeper Letter. The key takeaway is that the FAA’s initial request is often just the first pass. As more records are submitted and reviewed, additional questions may emerge.
This is where pilots can unintentionally get stuck in a frustrating cycle:
- Submit what the FAA asks for
- Wait months
- Receive another letter asking for more
Each round adds time, uncertainty, and risk.
What We Do First: Identify All Potential Issues
The very first thing we do—whether you have an FAA letter or not—is step back and look at the entire medical picture. We’re not just asking: “What did the FAA request?” We’re asking: “What could the FAA request, now or later?”
For many pilots who come to us after receiving an FAA letter, we identify additional issues that were not included in that initial FAA letter. These might include:
- Related diagnoses that weren’t explicitly addressed
- Gaps in documentation
- Missing historical data
- Medications or conditions that trigger separate FAA review pathways
If we only focused on the FAA’s letter, those issues might surface later—resulting in delays or even denial.
Instead, we build an Action Plan that accounts for everything we anticipate the FAA will ultimately want to see, not just what they’ve asked for so far.
So Why Do Some Plans Look the Same?
Here’s where things get interesting.
Sometimes, after a thorough review, we determine that the FAA letter has already captured all the relevant issues. In those cases, our Action Plan may appear very similar—at least on the surface.
But “similar” doesn’t mean “identical,” and it definitely doesn’t mean “redundant.”
Even when the scope aligns, the execution is very different.
The Difference Is in the Details
Because FAA letters are typically written in broad, standardized language, they often fail to specify the exact level of detail or format required for a successful review. This ambiguity frequently leads pilots to submit documentation that is either insufficient or incorrect, triggering a frustrating cycle of follow-up requests and months of delay.
Wingman Med’s Action Plans are designed to solve this primary problem by providing a detailed, step-by-step roadmap that explicitly outlines what each provider needs to document, ensuring the submission is right the first time.
For example, the FAA might request “a current status report from your treating physician.”
That sounds straightforward—but in practice, that can mean the difference between a vague clinic note that triggers another FAA letter and what they are really asking for: a precisely structured report that answers all underlying certification questions the first time
So while the high-level items may look similar, the quality, clarity, and completeness of what gets submitted are dramatically different.
Avoiding the Most Common Reason for Denial
One of the biggest misconceptions we encounter is that medical certificate denials happen primarily because of the underlying condition.
In reality, that’s often not the case. A large number of denials occur because the FAA simply does not have enough information to make a favorable decision.
The lack of necessary information often means submissions contain missing records, incomplete physician notes, tests that don’t meet FAA specifications, or documentation that fails to address key risk factors.
From the FAA’s perspective, if they can’t clearly determine that you meet the standards, they have little choice but to deny or defer further.
This is exactly the problem our process is designed to prevent.
Building the Plan Is Just the Beginning
Another important point: creating the Action Plan is only the first phase of what we do.
Once you take that plan to your physicians and begin gathering the required evaluations, tests, labs, and reports, the next critical step is review and quality control.
This is where many pilots—working on their own—run into trouble. They assume that once they’ve completed the requested testing, they’re ready to submit. But without careful review, subtle issues can slip through, such as:
- Missing key language in physician reports
- Incomplete test interpretations
- Inconsistencies between documents
- Results that raise additional questions
Before anything goes to the FAA, we review your materials based on four critical criteria: Completeness, ensuring every element is present; Clarity, guaranteeing the FAA will understand it without ambiguity; Consistency, verifying that all documents align; and Favorable positioning, confirming that the information strongly supports certification.
If something isn’t right, we flag it early—while there’s still time to correct it.
Shifting From Reactive to Strategic
When you come to us after receiving an FAA letter, we can’t undo the fact that the process has already started. But we can shift the approach from reactive to strategic.
Instead of responding piecemeal to each FAA request, we look ahead to what is likely coming next, consolidating requirements into a comprehensive plan to reduce the number of back-and-forth cycles with the FAA and improve the quality of your submission.
Even if your Action Plan overlaps significantly with the FAA’s letter, it is being executed with a very different level of foresight and precision.
The Bottom Line
If your Wingman Med Action Plan looks similar to the FAA letter you received, that’s not a sign that you didn’t need help. It’s often a sign that the FAA identified the major issues early, we confirmed those are the correct issues to address, and we are now helping you execute the plan correctly the first time.
The real value isn’t just in identifying what needs to be done—it’s in ensuring it’s done right, completely, and in a way that supports a favorable outcome.
If you haven’t yet had your AME exam, the best move you can make is to reach out before you start. That’s where we can save you the most time and avoid unnecessary complications altogether.
If you’ve already received an FAA letter, you’re not behind—you just need a more structured, strategic approach moving forward.
Either way, the goal is the same: Get you certified efficiently, with fewer delays, and with a plan that actually works.
