Civil Aviation Authority cleans house and rejects toxic label

Friday, 13 April 2018

An aviation lobby group says incidents such as the release of confidential information about Sunair by a CAA board member have damaged confidence in the organisation.

The Civil Aviation Authority has moved swiftly to tidy up conflict of interest rules governing its board members, and rejects claims its relationships with the wider aviation community are a mess.

The General Aviation Advocacy (GAA) network has called for a public enquiry into the CAA and the establishment of an independent authority to handle complaints about it, after an industry survey revealed serious distrust of the government safety agency.

The GAA, which describes itself as a 'voluntary social network,' said its 2000 supporters covered a wide swathe of the aviation industry including recreational and commercial pilots, skydive operators, helicopter companies, engineers and flying schools.

Spokesman Brian Mackie said there were 700 responses to the survey about the CAA, which scored badly in terms of its performance, which was described as 'incompetent' and 'toxic.'

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Complaints included a lack of response to safety concerns and incident reports, unacceptable delays and red tape, excessive charges, and misinterpretation of regulations by CAA staff.

Aviation New Zealand represents almost 300 aviation companies and chief executive John Nicholson said some of the concerns raised by the survey reflected those of his members.

It tried to work with the CAA and recent 'successes' included getting the agency to revoke costly infringement notices issued to dozens of operators for late filing of quarterly activity reports.

However, he said the CAA could better communicate its decisions to the industry.

CAA director Graeme Harris conceded the authority needed to improve feedback to individuals who reported incidents so they understood what decisions had been made and why.

'That's one area where traditionally we have been weak and we need to get better.'

Aviation lawyer Angela Beazer acts for operators grounded or prosecuted by the CAA.

While she said she did not want to be too critical, delays in getting issues resolved and a lack of depth in investigations were problems.

'You read the report and think 'That's damning, that operator is really bad,' but when you delve into the detail there's a lot of assumptions, and a lot of very sweeping conclusions that have been reached and can lead to quite severe regulatory intervention.

'That gives operators the feeling that investigators are looking for the worst, they're looking to paint a bad picture and not get to the bottom of something.'

Beazer said there was also unhappiness about the CAA's 'zealous'prosecution of pilots who flew in marginal weather because New Zealand terrain meant weather conditions could change quickly.

Harris said there would always be tensions between elements of the aviation community and his organisation because the companies focused on their interests and the CAA focused on public safety. .

'If there wasn't a level of tension, I think the public could legitimately ask whether we're are doing our job right.'

GAA also claimed public confidence in the CAA had been damaged by deputy board chairman Peter Griffiths giving confidential information about the grounding of Sunair to Barrier Air, a competing airline he part-owned.

Following his resignation and an independent investigation by Mary Scholtens QC, the board decided that to avoid conflicts of interest, future appointees should not have current financial interests in the aviation industry in the form of ownership or investment holdings.

Mackie said that was a good start but he felt anyone with active interests in commercial aviation, including positions with airport companies should be excluded from board membership

That would appear to rule out CAA board members Grant Lilly, a director of the Queenstown Airport Company, and Queenstown Lakes District mayor Jim Boult whose council is a part owner of the airport.

Harris said both members had been 'quite active in recording their interests in discussions' and recused themselves where necessary.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford said he was confident the CAA board now had appropriate processes in place to manage conflicts of interest and an appointment to replace Griffiths would be made in the coming months.

He said he would be discussing issues raised in the GAA survey at his next meeting with the CAA, but some of them were historical and others had been addressed.

'I am confident the CAA's main priority is public safety and that it is adequately resourced to do its job. I am not aware of concerns about the CAA from the wider aviation sector. If there are, I will listen to them,' Twyford said.