CAA releases passenger and stakeholder research results for 2024

CAA conducts periodic research to measure public perceptions of aviation safety and security and the aviation sector views on our performance. The 2024 results are available below.

Statement from the Director of Civil Aviation

“Feedback from users of New Zealand’s aviation system – that is the travelling public and aviation sector operators and participants – is an important tool for us to measure our effectiveness in keeping our skies safe and secure.

We’re encouraged by results which show the vast majority of travellers feel safe and secure when they fly and are satisfied with security procedures. It’s a testament to our hard-working teams, alongside our airport and airline counterparts, who all play a significant role in aviation safety and security.

The results from the aviation sector tells us that as an organisation, there is room for improvement. We acknowledge and accept this feedback, and there is work already underway to improve efficiency, transparency, accountability, and consistency in our advice and decisions.”

Feel safe survey

• Online survey of 1,004 air travellers who live in New Zealand.
• Intercept survey of 305 international travellers at Auckland Airport.

Research objectives:

1. Measure changes in perceptions of safety over time
2. Investigate how perceptions of safety vary by different types of aviation activity
3. Identify the key things that influence and inform perceptions of safety
4. Measure and track aviation rule knowledge

Key findings

• 80% of New Zealand resident travellers and 89% of international travellers felt safe and secure when they flew.
• 81% of New Zealand resident travellers and 97% of international travellers are satisfied with security procedures.
• Passenger knowledge of luggage rules and rules for specific items has improved on previous years.
• Of the 2% of passengers who were unsatisfied with security procedures, 37% thought screening wait times were too long.

Of New Zealand resident travellers:

• 94% understand why they and their luggage are screened before boarding a flight
• 79% said aviation security in New Zealand is effective
• 78% said AvSec staff at airports are friendly and helpful

Of international travellers:

• 99% understand why they and their luggage are screened before boarding a flight
• 93% said aviation security in New Zealand is effective
• 74% said aviation security in New Zealand is world class
• 91% said AvSec staff at airports are friendly and helpful
• 87% said AvSec staff at airports are approachable

Full report: Feel Safe research - 2024 survey findings [PDF 3.9 MB]

Stakeholder survey

This research was designed to measure perceptions of the CAA’s performance and the quality of the CAA’s stakeholder relationships with a view of delivering insights to improve the effectiveness of  CAA’s regulatory decision-making and communication.

The 2024 research focused on the following areas: “being safe and feeling safe”; the CAA’s leadership and influence; active regulatory stewardship; professional regulatory practice; and value for money perceptions. The survey was conducted online and received 1,481 responses.

Key findings

Agreement ratings with the following statements

• “I feel safe when operating in the New Zealand aviation system” 76%
• “Overall, I believe that the New Zealand aviation system is safe” 74%

Stakeholders are more positive about CAA staff than they are negative and 53% of stakeholders feel CAA treats them fairly and with respect.

CAA’s efforts in safety education are highly regarded, with publications, seminars and safety campaigns of particular mention.

Overall, perceptions of CAA have weakened compared to 2022 and are consistent with feedback received through our day-to-day interactions with the sector, observations made in self-assessments earlier in 2024, and feedback received through an ongoing internal change programme.

Addressing the findings

Perceptions of transparency and accountability for actions, consistency in advice and decision-making, and trust in the CAA and its decisions are expected to improve due to the following:

• Increased transparency about how reported information is used
• Our recently published regulatory decisions operational policy
• Changes to our investigations approach
• The introduction of the ‘Independent Review of Director’s Decisions’ mechanism under the Civil Aviation Act 2023.
• Continued and increased communication and engagement with industry

Work is already underway to improve timeliness with more risk-based certification renewals and processing changes for Part 102 certificates already having tangible benefits.

While only a small proportion of survey respondents indicated that screening wait times are too long, wait times are also expected to improve due to initiatives including the adoption of lane matrix screening (LMS) and implementation of passenger data technology at our screening points. LMS enables analysts to screen bags from any of the active screening lanes, which means that a single person can be assigned to help cope with high volumes of passengers, rather than opening a whole lane. Advanced passenger sensing technology will be used to capture real-time data which will count passengers and provide insights into how long it takes them to get through security.

Full report: Stakeholder research - 2024 survey findings [PDF 3.2 MB]