Andrew Valentine

Andrew is the General Manager of the Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO), an organisation he has been with since 2016.

PASO is an international organisation, formed under a treaty by the Heads of Pacific Island Governments, responsible for the provision of regulatory aviation safety and security oversight support to 10 Pacific Island government aviation regulators. Andrew is a kiwi expat based in Vanuatu, reporting to a Chairman with the governing Council (the Board) comprising of 13 governments in the Pacific Islands including New Zealand and Australia.

Andrew has a wide-ranging knowledge of aviation from safety to security, to commercial to needs. Prior to joining PASO, he was employed by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAANZ) where he held various senior positions working in the Aviation Security Service.

In his current role Andrew is focused on executive leadership as well as coordinating and bringing together complex issues. As a transformational leader Andrew has been highly successful at stabilising PASO by addressing long standing organisational issues and critical funding issues. He has attracted new donor support and partners, developed strategic relationships and am now strengthening all aspects of the organisation, to the point that it is performing the best it has in its 15-year life, and finally living up to its potential.

Andrew has achieved this significant change within PASO through personal and professional levers, including strong leadership, strong management to the office, people development and empowerment, corporate strengthening and strong risk management across a dynamic and varied scope of employee and consultant relationships, donor proposals and contracts, diplomatic relationship and a unique cultural dimension. Andrew is currently focused on positioning PASO for Level 2 GASOS accreditation with ICAO.

Andrew’s most significant recent achievement is as the architect of the highly successful meeting of regional Aviation Ministers and the development of a common vision for Pacific aviation. The Regional Aviation Ministers Meeting (RAMM) was a strategic opportunity for Forum Island Member States to discuss the wide-ranging aviation needs of the region to ensure there is a safe, sustainable and enhanced aviation environment for the Pacific. The RAMM focused on strengthening aviation safety and security compliance through enhancing current institutional arrangements and establishing a long-term roadmap for the region. The RAMM resulted in Pacific Forum Member States endorsing the Port Moresby Declaration on Aviation Safety and Security; the Declaration provides a range of strategic priorities and actions to respond to the critical challenges regarding aviation safety and security performance facing Forum Members, who have been seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.