Decision to quit was mine, says aviation head

John Jones

Civil Aviation director John Jones says he made up his own mind to retire, and was not pushed out of his job.

Mr Jones, 62, has been fending off calls for his resignation since May, when Christchurch coroner Richard McElrea issued his findings on the deaths of eight people in the 2003 Air Adventures crash.

Mr McElrea said the crash, which killed the pilot and seven Crop and Food Research staff, was preventable, and made several safety recommendations concerning CAA.

The CAA has been in turmoil for several years, and has been the subject of several damning Audit Office reports.

Asked if he had received a payment to leave CAA or had come under any pressure to quit, Mr Jones yesterday said he was leaving of his own accord, and had stayed in the job longer than he had intended.

"I came here originally for three years, and have finished up staying for 5 1/2. There have been a few hiccups and a few hassles but it's been pretty good overall."

Mr Jones became director of civil aviation in October 2001. He cited a 50 per cent drop in the social cost of air accidents since then as evidence that solid progress in improving air safety had been made while he was in charge.

He did not think his time at the CAA would be remember for the Audit Office reports and the coroner's findings, as the problems those investigations had highlighted had been identified by the authority before the release of the reports and remedial work had already begun.

"Of course it was highlighted at the time, but what didn't come out was that our actions were already well under way," Mr Jones said.

"New Zealand's civil aviation system is as good as anywhere in the world. The system we operate is the envy of many, many operators."

That system is under scrutiny. Transport Minister Annette King has told the CAA to make monthly public announcements on its progress in meeting safety concerns raised by the Air Adventures inquest.

"We've employed a consultant to pull it all together and I don't have too many issues with it," Mr Jones said.

"We will just work our way through it. I'm going to be here for quite a long time still so I'm not running away from that."

Mr Jones officially retires on November 30, but will stay on with the authority until March to hand over to his successor.

"The industry now has its sights set on new safety and sustainability targets for 2010, so it is timely for me to hand over to a new director who will see them achieved," he said.

National transport spokesman Maurice Williamson, who has been a vocal critic of the CAA, yesterday said he hoped the agency's new director would be working for a new board.

"John Jones' going is sad, but he's made his decision and he's going," Mr Williamson said. "It's now time to take advantage for a real clean-out.

"Let's hope this thing can be put back on the rails. This is to do with public safety and it's too important to be allowing the political mess which is going on in there internally to impact on that safety."