Following recent reporting by Michael Morrah at The New Zealand Herald about employment related matters, Civil Aviation Authority Board Chair Mark Darrow has provided a statement.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) acknowledges that ongoing people issues were identified within parts of CAA a number of years ago and that significant work has been undertaken to address them.
Following extensive review in 2024, including an independent cultural assessment and direct engagement with over 150 staff from across the organisation by an external people expert, CAA has re-set the organisation and implemented substantial change over recent years.
That has included a refreshed Board, a new Executive Leadership Team, a new organisational strategy, and a strong focus on culture, performance and continuous improvement. We are seeing positive improvements in organisational performance, including financial results, reduced passenger queues at security, certification delivery and timeliness, delivering the rules programme and our broader programme of work.
Creating a workplace where people feel respected, supported and able to raise concerns is important to us. Despite all the progress, a very small number of people continued to dwell on historic issues that have been addressed. The CAA has moved on from that period, and it is important we focus our people on our future ambition.
The matter currently before the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) covered in the media relates to an individual employment issue and remains subject to ongoing legal proceedings. The recent determination of that case relates to an interim reinstatement application for a past employee only, and the substantive case has yet to be heard. Despite how the application was portrayed in the media we emphasise that in determining the interim application, the ERA stated, “noting, in particular, the impact on other employees, I conclude it is only weakly arguable [the applicant] would be permanently reinstated,” and that interim reinstatement is “on a limited basis to the payroll only.”
I remain confident that CAA is in a great place and we continue to engage constructively with staff and stakeholders at all levels and get direct feedback on our direction. Our focus remains on continuing to strengthen the organisation and delivering for the aviation sector and New Zealanders. This includes, maintaining the safety, security and integrity of New Zealand's aviation system.
