Opinion: The Value of Advocacy

The Value of Advocacy

by Simon Wallace, Aviation Industry Association Chief Executive

22 May 2025

During the last few weeks as the AIANZ membership renewal process has been underway, the team and I have been talking to members, and potential new members about the important work we do.

It is heartening that most people we talk to ‘get it’, and appreciate the importance of our advocacy and lobbying, but there are some that don’t.

Looking at the past 12 months, there have been several wins. In a diverse sector like aviation, such wins may benefit some more than others. But some too have a universal benefit.

Only last week I had a conversation with a potential member who didn’t know about the FENZ levies and the AIANZ-led work that resulted in a massive scaling back of increases that would have devastated the sector. The result saved individual members thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Our work on the District and Regional Plans has seen several wins in parts of the country that without our advocacy would have made commercial aviation activities more difficult to operate.

Our advocacy on the CAA Pricing Review saw a paring back of levies, avoiding significant increases for our members. And there’s more work to do.

We successfully lobbied against an Auckland Airport proposal to significantly increase charges on our operators to fund a grandiose terminal expansion.

And we’re holding the regulators accountable for their performance. Afterall, it is commercial aviation operators that fund the operations of CAA and Airways, and we have the right to expect a decent service.

One of the bugbears of a peak industry body is the ‘free rider,’ or the non-members in the industry who benefit from our work, but do not pay. Like most industries, there will always be non-members.

Policy, advocacy and lobbying are long games. It’s a game without instant gratification where wins are hard fought.

Our work is made stronger when echoed by the very people we represent, our members, and if a strong peak membership body that influences outcomes did not exist, the aviation industry would be poorer for it.

Simon Wallace
Chief Executive