The next director of civil aviation and chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is Kane Patena, who is currently deputy chief executive of WorkSafe New Zealand.
He spent his formative years in law as a Crown prosecutor and regulatory specialist advising central and local government agencies. He became a partner at Meredith Connell and established its Wellington office in 2014. He went on to hold various executive leadership roles with Wellington City Council where he oversaw the strategy and governance functions.
Patena then joined the New Zealand Transport Agency as general manager of regulatory services, overseeing the regulatory teams responsible for monitoring land transport sector such as rail safety, commercial transport, driver licensing, vehicle standards and road-user behaviour.
He also held the statutory appointment of director of land transport. In this role, he was accountable to Waka Kotahi’s board of directors and to the Minister for Transport. He led a reset of Waka Kotahi’s regulatory functions, after an independent review found significant gaps in its regulatory performance.
Patena will take up his new role on September 1, when incumbent Keith Manch nears the end of his five-year term and 50 years in the public service. During the transitory period, Manch will continue to provide key work programmes and upcoming engagements, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) General Assembly.
Catherine MacGowan.
Catherine MacGowan (aviation safety) and Fred Stein (aviation security) have been appointed deputy directors. MacGowan began her career with the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and was most recently working with US-based autonomous aircraft manufacturer Wisk Aero.
At the NZDF, she gained experience in navigation, supporting No 5 Squadron with maritime activities in the Asia Pacific region and internationally. She went on to complete a deployment to Timor Leste and then moved into strategic advisory under the chief of defence.
She has spent time with the Ministry for Primary Industries, where she led the national intelligence team and partnered with industry to manage food safety and biosecurity risks.
Returning to the NZDF in 2017, MacGowan co-led the modernisation of the intelligence programme. Her time there culminated in the commanding officer position for No 230 Squadron based at Whenuapai.
She spent four years at Wisk Aero, where she was responsible for developing its air operations’ capability in line with regulatory standards and leading the organisation’s business development activities in Asia Pacific.
Fred Stein.
Stein spent two decades with the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and most recently was the senior executive overseeing transportation security across 10 US states, with a focus on mass transit, freight rail, highways, and pipelines.
This included working across the security spectrum, from coordinating with land-based transport stakeholders to improve physical security, to the introduction and enhancement of cybersecurity initiatives.
Stein began his career with the US Army and joined the TSA in 2005. For five years, he was transportation security attaché for the US Embassy in Singapore, responsible for government-to-government aviation security relationships for 10 countries.
Both deputy directors will take up their roles in June and July, respectively.
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