Irene King: aviation commentator on Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran's resignation

Air New Zealand is in for a change - with CEO Greg Foran resigning from October.

He's told the board the airline is in a good place and this is the right time to step down.

He took on the role in February 2020.

Aviation commentator Irene King says the airline should take this opportunity to restore confidence at home.

"Air New Zealand has really got to focus on its core New Zealand market - and I think some of that's been lost. The edge has gone off."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bryan Bridge.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
She's gone twenty four away from six o'clock now In
New Zealand, Boss Greg Fororan is out. He's resigning. He
joined the airline February twenty twenty and he'll be living
in October in New Zealand. The chair in New Zealand's
chair believes the airline is set up well to continue
its positive trajectory and agrees the time is right. Iren
King is a former Aviation New Zealand CEO. Good Evening, Irene,

(00:24):
Good Evening. How are you.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Very good in India at the moment?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Oh? Quite fitting to have your traveling Now, how do
you think why do you think he's going now?

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well, I'd say that, you know, i'd be pretty tired
after all all of the events that he's been through.
And you know, I think it's time for a change
in trajectory, change in direction. I think, you know, E
News Zealand's really got to focus on its core New
Zealand market and I think some of that's been losted lost.

(00:58):
The age has gone off.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
One of the big problems is the Rolls Royce engines
and there's nothing I mean, whoever the new chev executive
is they can't fix that overnight precisely.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
And so that's why I say the focus has got
to be on restoring confidence consumer confidence in in New
Zealand and in their home market. Now, if they don't
control that market, then you know, it makes life really challenging,
even more challenging than what they've got at the present time.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Because we get a lot of feedback here whenever we
talk about in New Zealand, it's the delayed flights, or
it's the canceled flights, or it's the state of the
Cory Lounge. Is that just me or do you get
the sense that there's been a bit of a reputation
hit here for their line.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Look, I think that they really need to refocus on
domestic New Zealand. You know that regional route network restructure
has not gone down well prices. You know, they are
off off the planet and they've got to somehow get

(02:03):
that focus back and recapture our hearts and minds. It's
not that New Zealanders don't support in New Zealand, they
just don't want to pay the money that the support requires.
So that means you've got to be very strongly focused
on your costs and delivering value for the customer.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Irene Thanks to that Irene King, former Aviation in Z's CEO.
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