| Agency Name: | Civil Aviation Authority |
| Formed: | 1992[1] |
| Jurisdiction: | New Zealand government |
| Headquarters: | Wellington |
| Employees: | 171.1 FTE (2007)[2] |
| Budget: | $26.9 million (2007) |
| Minister1 Name: | Simeon Brown |
| Minister1 Pfo: | Minister of Transport |
| Chief1 Name: | Janice Fredric |
| Chief1 Position: | Chair |
| Chief2 Name: | Keith Manch |
| Chief2 Position: | Director of Civil Aviation |
| Child1 Agency: | Aviation Security Service |
| Parent Agency: | Ministry of Transport |
| Website: | www.aviation.govt.nz |
The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA) (Māori: Te Mana Rererangi Tūmatanui o Aotearoa) is the government agency tasked with establishing civil aviation safety and security standards in New Zealand.The CAA also monitors adherence to those standards and is responsible for enforcement proceedings.The authority "investigates and reviews accident and incident investigations in its capacity as the responsible safety and security authority, subject to the limitations set out in section 14(3) of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission Act 1990"[3] (TAIC).CAA is also responsible for managing civilian pilot, aerodrome and aircraft licensing in New Zealand. The CAA has its headquarters in the Asteron Centre in Featherston Street, Wellington.[4]
Before a Civil Aviation portfolio was created in 1946, ministerial authority had rested with the Minister of Defence.[5] The position of Minister for Civil Aviation was abolished just before the 1990 election where after aviation remained under the Minister of Transport. However the government formed the Civil Aviation Authority in 1992 to regulate aviation separately from the Ministry of Transport. It was reinstated as a full ministerial portfolio in 1999.[6]
The following ministers have held ministerial responsibility for Civil Aviation.
| No. | Name | Portrait | Term of Office | Prime Minister | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fred Jones | 1 June 1946 | 13 December 1949 | width=1 style="background:" | Fraser | |||
| 2 | Stan Goosman | 13 December 1949 | 8 December 1950 | Holland | ||||
| 3 | Tom Macdonald | 8 December 1950 | 26 November 1954 | |||||
| height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:" | 4 | Tom Shand | 26 November 1954 | 12 December 1957 | ||||
| height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:" | Holyoake | |||||||
| 5 | John Mathison | 12 December 1957 | 12 December 1960 | Nash | ||||
| 6 | John McAlpine | 12 December 1960 | 12 December 1966 | Holyoake | ||||
| height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:" | 7 | Peter Gordon | 12 December 1966 | 8 December 1972 | ||||
| height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:" | Marshall | |||||||
| 8 | Martyn Finlay | 8 December 1972 | 12 December 1975 | Kirk | ||||
| Rowling | ||||||||
| 9 | Colin McLachlan | 12 December 1975 | 11 December 1981 | Muldoon | ||||
| 10 | George Gair | 11 December 1981 | 26 July 1984 | |||||
| 11 | Richard Prebble | 26 July 1984 | 24 August 1987 | Lange | ||||
| 12 | Bill Jeffries | 24 August 1987 | 2 November 1990 | height=36 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:" | ||||
| Palmer | ||||||||
| Moore | ||||||||
| 13 | Rob Storey | 2 November 1990 | 29 November 1993 | Bolger | ||||
| 14 | Maurice Williamson | 29 November 1993 | 16 December 1996 | |||||
| 15 | Jenny Shipley | 16 December 1996 | 8 December 1997 | |||||
| (14) | Maurice Williamson | 8 December 1997 | 10 December 1999 | Shipley | ||||
| 16 | Mark Gosche | 10 December 1999 | 27 July 2002 | Clark | ||||
| 17 | Paul Swain | 27 July 2002 | 26 February 2004 | |||||
| 18 | Pete Hodgson | 26 February 2004 | 19 October 2005 | |||||
| 19 | David Parker | 19 October 2005 | 21 March 2006 | |||||
| 20 | Annette King | 21 March 2006 | 19 November 2008 | |||||
| 21 | Steven Joyce | 19 November 2008 | 12 December 2011 | Key | ||||
| 22 | Gerry Brownlee | 12 December 2011 | 6 October 2014 | |||||
| height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:" | 23 | Simon Bridges | 6 October 2014 | 26 October 2017 | ||||
| height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:" | English | |||||||
| 24 | Phil Twyford | 26 October 2017 | 24 May 2018 | Ardern | ||||
| 25 | Julie Anne Genter | 24 May 2018 | 6 November 2020 | |||||
| height=70 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:" | 26 | Michael Wood | 6 November 2020 | 21 June 2023 | ||||
| height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:" | Hipkins | |||||||
| 27 | Simeon Brown | 27 November 2023 | Present | Luxon | ||||