Police at the scene of a fatal plane accident at the Fox Glacier airfield in 2010. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Police at the scene of a fatal plane accident at the Fox Glacier airfield in 2010. Photo / Sarah Ivey
THREE KEY FACTS
Whistleblowers at the Civil Aviation Authority have issued a dire warning about aviation safety in New Zealand.
Staff describe a toxic culture and say in their opinion the CAA director is “asleep at the wheel”.
Despite efforts to improve after cultural problems were cited in a 2020 ministerial review, bullying and harassment complaints persist, with data obtained by the Herald showing $644,024.04 spent on legal fees for employment issues, complaints or investigations.
Whistleblowers at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have issued a grim warning and believe changes to the agency’s investigative approach could mean “more people will die” in aviation accidents in New Zealand.
Sources told the Herald they felt bosses were forcing through changeswhile “isolating and excluding staff” who didn’t agree.
The insiders, who the Herald has agreed not to identify, also said staff were being “led by fear”, the culture was “toxic” and described the CAA director, Keith Manch, as being “asleep at the wheel” and in their opinion ineffective at handling complaints.
Nine people died when a hot air balloon crashed near Carterton in 2012. Photo / Sarah Ivey
However, a spokesman for the CAA said issues with workplace behaviour were dealt with “quickly and fairly”.
Sources told the Herald the CAA was pivoting from a safety regulator to one that was more focused on enforcement and prosecutions.
It’s feared this would mean aviation operators would be less likely to be transparent about incidents and report them.
Staff believed the move would endanger the public.
“If we don’t get it together, the outcome is a catastrophic accident. Another Fox Glacier, another Carterton balloon accident. Our travelling public is going to die because we can’t get our s*** in one sock,” one employee told the Herald.
Another employee said the CAA had “turned its back” on being a safety regulator.
“And that’s ultimately what’s going to potentially cause more accidents to happen.”
The CAA has long promoted what’s known as “just culture”, where people are encouraged to report mistakes or incidents, like near-misses or mechanical issues, without being blamed, so the CAA can learn, gather intelligence and make safety improvements.
Sources said the CAA’s safety investigation team was being merged with the enforcement unit and there is concern the relationships established between safety investigators and aviators would be “completely compromised”.
The concerns about the new direction were highlighted in comments from other staff in a Public Service Association survey leaked to the Herald.
“The proposal exposes the authority to unacceptable risk at the expense of the flying public of Aotearoa New Zealand,” a staff member said.
“This would also result in reputational risk to the organisation,” another said.
The CAA said its dedication to safety outcomes hasn’t changed, and the changes are “not about increasing enforcement activity”.
“The changes have led to some changes in roles and/or personnel. Change like this is often unsettling for the individuals concerned but, in this case, the overarching objective is improved safety for all New Zealanders,” a CAA spokesman said.
The changes to investigative practices were being implemented after a review by Mike Heron KC, the spokesman said.
That review was sparked in part by a fatal mid-air collision in Masterton in 2019, where charges laid by the CAA were suddenly withdrawn before trial after the agency was made aware of new evidence.
‘TOXIC UNDERCURRENT’
Michael Morrah talks to whistleblowers from the Civil Aviation Authority.
Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Herald interviewed seven sources, comprised of current CAA staff and former employees, who said they felt the behaviour of some senior leaders at CAA was appalling.
It’s claimed when staff raise concerns about the direction CAA is taking, they’re “intimidated or isolated” and in some cases good people are being “pushed out”.
A current staff member told the Herald they believed a “very toxic undercurrent” existed at the organisation and the leadership style of some had become a distraction to the job.
The source witnessed leaders going “head-to-head” during heated arguments.
“It’s appalling and it makes me quite embarrassed to be associated with an organisation that has leadership people behaving that way.”
The employee said the culture within the organisation has rapidly gone backwards.
“In places, it is horrendous, where I know there are people who simply will not go into the office because of the attitude and having to see certain people.”
A former staff member agreed.
“What’s happening internally at CAA is creating a situation where the work is being overshadowed by a toxic culture. People are being led by fear,” they said.
Deputy chief executive Dean Winter was accused of being intimidating and manipulative when dealing with staff.
One source said Winter had referred to a staff member as being a “f***wit” and described others as “useless” during a meeting.
Another employee told the Herald he could be intimidating.
“I have witnessed Dean Winter berating other managers who voice different opinions. People have left those meetings saying they felt interrogated.”
His colleague, Paul Fantham, who was recently promoted to the head of investigations role, was also criticised for behaviour sources described as bullying.
A staff member who recently left the organisation described public humiliation as “common”.
“You could be in a meeting with one of them and they would openly undermine you or blatantly put your work down in front of internals and externals.”
In one instance, Fantham was accused of publicly undermining a worker – who has since left – by making demeaning comments while editing a job description document, which was shared among staff.
“There was various written correspondence floating about just putting people down that would go out to multiple people in the organisation,” a former worker said.
The source said they tried to raise concerns about Winter and Fantham’s behaviour but felt ignored.
“And it got to the point where I just had to leave. I knew that I wasn’t going to change the system.”
The CAA did not respond to questions about the alleged poor conduct of these managers, with a spokesman telling the Herald the CAA “cannot comment on individual employees”.
The spokesman said 98% of staff had completed online bullying, harassment and discrimination training and “most” senior leaders completed a development programme.
“Key initiatives have focused on improving leadership and staff engagement and addressing historic[al] employment issues,” a CAA spokesman said.
The review was damning and found bullying and sexual harassment complaints were poorly handled, with the root cause being a “failure of governance and leadership”.
Following the review, the CAA established Te Kakano, a project aimed at establishing a respectful, safe and inclusive workplace.
Official information obtained by the Herald reveals problems persist at the agency despite talk by bosses of improvements.
Official information reveals 64 complaints have been raised about staff behaviour at the CAA in the past two years. Photo / Jason Dorday
In response to the Herald’s Official Information Act request, the CAA confirmed that between June 2022 and June 2024, 64 complaints or concerns have been raised about staff behaviour at the CAA.
Sixteen complaints related to inappropriate behaviour, 17 related to relationship issues, two related to assaults and another two related to sexual assaults.
There were 27 complaints of bullying and harassment in the two-year period and $644,024.04 was spent in the same period on external lawyers to deal with employment issues, internal complaints or investigations.
A current worker said the figures, which were shared internally, were alarming.
“It’s pretty shocking to think that they’ve been spouting to us that they’ve improved, that things are better. [The figures] speak volumes as to how they’re downplaying and how bad this really is,” a former worker said.
A former worker was critical of how many employment issues were being outsourced.
“It is unbelievable to think that they are spending that type of money when they have an internal legal team. It’s horrific,” they said.
Another current staff member said the figures on bullying and harassment reflected the current environment, which they felt had been “enabled” by some senior leaders.
“Many people have been pushed out either through isolation or intimidation or just feeling like there is no other option but to leave,” they said.
The CAA subsequently said the official information provided to the Herald included complaints by Aviation Security Service staff too.
A spokesman said if only CAA staff were considered, a total of 18 complaints had been made in the past two years.
“We are concerned to see any incidents reported,” the spokesman said.
Staff at the CAA have told the Herald there have been multiple instances where staff have been discouraged from making complaints, and others didn’t speak up fearing a backlash.
“They [staff] don’t want to stand up, they don’t want to say anything because you know that you’ll be the next person that’s going to be targeted by them,” a current staff member said.
‘ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL’
Keith Manch is the director and chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority.
Manch took over as CAA director and chief executive after Graeme Harris resigned in 2020, but sources say Manch has failed to improve culture at the agency.
Official information shows Manch received a summary of “all complex employment cases”, that Manch had been made aware of 12 specific instances of bullying or similar culture issues within CAA teams between June 2022 and June 2024, and that he separately receives information related to issues involving staff as part of what was called “people reporting”.
A recently departed CAA staff member told the Herald they did not believe Manch acted on all concerns raised with him.
They felt ignored when raising concerns with him. “I was told ‘thanks for your feedback. We’ll take that on board’.”
Another former staff member agreed.
“I would describe the director as asleep at the wheel. He is acutely aware of the higher-level, more serious in-depth bullying complaints. He has been made aware of them.
“I know of five people that had raised serious concerns. All of them have spoken to the director and he has done nothing about it.”
The CAA did not respond directly to questions about whether Manch had done enough to address complaints.
But a spokesman said having a safe and inclusive workplace remained an “ongoing priority” for the director.
BOARDROOM CLEAR OUT
Janice Fredric resigned as chair of the Civil Aviation Authority on July 24.
The Herald’s Official Information Act figures on bullying and harassment at the CAA were shared internally with all staff on July 23.
The following day, July 24, CAA board chair Janice Fredric announced her resignation.
“Following discussion with the Minister of Transport, I have decided to step down as the authority’s chair,” she said in a statement to staff.
Fredric was brought in after her predecessor, Nigel Gould, was asked to resign after questioning the motives of another group of CAA whistleblowers whose concerns prompted the ministerial review in 2020.
Key to Fredric’s role was implementing changes to improve the culture at the CAA.
The Herald has sought comment from Fredric on why she decided to leave the position. She is yet to respond.
Just over two weeks after her resignation, Minister of Transport Simeon Brown announced a major overhaul of the board. Almost all CAA board members were replaced.
Brown said his decision to “refresh” the board was to ensure the CAA was “focused on delivery” and to reduce “unacceptable” wait times for aviation certificates and long waits in queues during airport security screening.
CALLS FOR INTERVENTION
New Zealand has international obligations when it comes to aviation safety.
CAA insiders believe a shift to a more punitive model could see the country fail upcoming audits by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
“We have an ICAO safety audit coming up next year and I definitely have concerns about that [not meeting international obligations],” a current CAA employee told the Herald.
“It does feel like we’re on a train that’s out of control about to wreck,” said another current worker.
Asked whether Transport Minister Brown should intervene, Herald sources said he should.
“I do believe that somebody needs to intervene outside of CAA. So that would logically be the minister.”
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won the best coverage of a major news event at the 2024 Voyager NZ Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.
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