Whatever the truth of the current situation with Aero Tropics, it strikes me that we have a pretty clear case of the regulator exercising power via the proxy of media.
As far as the travelling public is concerned, the 'fix' is already in -they're most likely to avoid AT or any subsidiaries like the plague now. CASA have effectively achieved their aim, simply by making public statements of their "concerns". That's all it takes. No customers = no business.
CAA-NZ are pretty adept at this form 'regulation' to boot.
A ****ty trick IMO. Neatly absolves them of even the necessity of justifying/defending/testing their actions in a court of law, when the business has already failed due no punters. The court of public opinion does the job probably even more effectively.