Air New Zealand says it's committed to maintaining regional connections, despite the Government turning down its offer.
CEO Nikhil Ravishankar last week pitched a temporary subsidy for lesser used domestic flights, saying it might be necessary to keep them operational.
But Prime Minister Chris Luxon says a subsidy isn't the answer, and Air New Zealand should shift its focus.
Ravishankar says it still isn't planning to leave the regions.
"We know that it is a lot more than a commercial decision, it's a lifeline service at times. And we will do everything we can and everything we should be doing to ensure that connectivity remains."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Twas fun. What's down? What were the major cause and
how will it affect the economy? The big business questions
on the Business Hour with Hither Duplessy Element and Mass
for Insurance Investments and Julie Safer You're in good hands,
News Talks Envy.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Evening coming up with the next hour. We've had met
a Google Microsoft all report in the last day, so
Sam Dickie's going to talk us through that after half
past Fonterra Sale going to chat to Jamie McKay about that,
and then we'll head off to the UK at seven
past six. Now, we had the global Microsoft outage this morning,
disrupting websites around the world, and one of the companies
that was affected was of course in New Zealand. Some
flights were delayed as a result, and we have Nicol
(00:41):
Ravashanka in New Zealand's new chief executive and studio with
us right now. Hey, Nicole, Hither are you well? Thanks
if you managed to sort out this morning's disruption.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
We have The teams have done an incredible job dealing
with what's been a sort of global outage. Yeah, has
impacted a lot of big organizations around.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Was everything running to time now? Buy and large.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Everything's running today right.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
By eighty Zealand standards.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
We are. We're very proud of the fact that, you know, well,
I'm very proud of the fact that everyone who works
at the airline takes punctuality very seriously.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I'm so sorry, Like, what a way to start this street.
You're just straight in there with a low blow. I'm sorry.
Prepare yourself. You're going to get along necessarily in the
next five minutes from there above. So what did the
guys have to do? They just have to do the
manual boarding, did they Yep.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
We call it BCP or Business Continuity Plans, and so
they kick into action a bunch of people across the airline,
so teams all around the airline actually have to have
to go into plan B mode. Yeah, and it's a
well rehearsed sort of thing that we do. Operations center,
airport staff are pilots and cabin crew of course, the
(01:55):
digital teams. Yeah, and what they're pulled off today is
absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Hey, do you know what the other day, I was
jumping on a flight and you know, like I got
into the habit of showing them because you're bored with
it as you get onto and you walk across the
air badge and then you get on the plane and
then you show them the ticket again. And they were like,
we don't do that anymore. Is that a thing?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah, we've stopped doing that, So.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I don't have to show them that I'm sitting in
one sea. I can just knock over to one sea.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
No, we trust that you know you're on the right.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Thank god, Nichol, Is this a you thing?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
It was a greg thing actually, but God for that.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
It was ridiculous like that. We were just like like
double handling, won't we.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Well, every second counts and you know, one of the
big aspirations we have is to be in the top five,
if not the top three airlines around the world as
far as safe on time performance is concerned.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, good luck with that now. Thank you, Thanks, You're welcome.
Thanks cheering you on as a customer. Talk to me
about this regional subsidy? Are you really wanting regional subsidy
from the government.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Look, I'm nine days in the job and if there's
anything that's clear in my mind is the fact that
in New Zealand is incredibly critical for New Zealand's success
and that it's a complex business, right, but at the
(03:17):
core of it, our purpose for being is to connect
New Zealanders to each other in New Zealand to the world.
And that's more important here than anywhere else in the
world because so much of our GDP relies on aviation,
be it within the country or connecting New Zealand to
regions around the world. So all of those things are
(03:37):
extremely important and that's what I'm sort of focused on doing.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yep. So they've shut you down already though, haven't they.
I mean, Nichola Willis to shut you down. David Siemill
shut you down, Chris Luxon shut you down. So what
do you do now?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Well, you know, I think there is so much alignment
in what we're all trying to achieve, and quite genuinely,
what we all want is to see New Zealand that's
thriving economy that continues to grow, where we can create
connections and trade and uh with with within the country
and across the world. And just yesterday I was at
(04:11):
the Tourism Industry Association event, right and there's a group
of people who are you know, representing teams. It's Team
New Zealand and it's best frankly, and one of the
things that we're all trying to do government tourism operators
us as Air New Zealand is double tourism's contribution to
(04:32):
national GDP. So I think no one shutting anyone down.
We're all rowing in the same direction, but they're all one.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
They were like, no regional subsidy. You need to sort
it out yourself if you if you're going to shut
down a regional route as a Timaru.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Look, I think there are parts of New Zealand that
rely on air travel as their primary form of connectivity.
Be to Maru, be It Hokatika, be it Gisbon, be
it Kerry Kerry. You know, we take flying in and
out of those regions extremely seriously. We know that it
(05:11):
is a lot more than a commercial decision. It's a
lifeline service at times, and we will do everything we
can and everything we should be doing to ensure that
connectivity remains.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So would you shut down to Maru?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
There are no plans to shut down to Maru?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Is it one of the first ones, because I hear
that's not doing very well.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Well, it's not even in the option set of things
that I'm currently considering good.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
So then you don't need the regional subsidy if you're
not thinking about shutting it down.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
As I said to you, we're all focused on ensuring
New Zealand are connected to each other and New Zealand's But.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I would argue, as a taxpayer which has a you know,
a shareholding any New Zealand, your primary job is not
to connect. Your primary job is to make money. Isn't it.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Life without simple health?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I wish it was? But question on that why is
Quantus doing so much better than you guys?
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Look, that's a question for quantas they operate in a
very different market to the one we operate in, but
also the same market to an extent. They operate out
of New Zealand, but their main focus isn't New Zealand.
We operate in a very different market under different market dynamics.
(06:29):
We've also, you know, got a very young fleet. We've
been investing in the long term health of the business.
We're operating in an economy that is starting to turn.
But you know the last few years have been fairly
difficult for us getting out of COVID And and let's
not forget we've had the incredible bad luck of having
(06:51):
engine troubles, which means twenty percent of our fleet is
currently grounded.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
So you've been unlucky right there. There's an element of
being unlucky here.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
It's been tough.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
How's your first two weeks as chief executive?
Speaker 3 (07:03):
It's been a thrilling ride. It has been very full on,
but it's also you know, when you think about the
reasons you'd want to do this job for me, I
decided a while back that I dedicate my career to
a New Zealand Inc. Sort of a set of challenges
(07:24):
and doing a job like this is one of the
great honors really if that's what you want to do,
because you can actually have a major impact on the
future of the country. And what a privilege to do
a job like that too.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Right well, listen, I can only wish you well, Nicol,
and it's lovely to meet you, and thank you very
much for coming in and beast of luck with running
the company and hopefully your luck turns. Nicol Revshenker, Chief
Executive in New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allan Drive, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio,
Twas fun. What's down? What were the major cause and
how will it affect the economy? The big business questions
on the Business Hour with Hither Duplessy Element and Mass
for Insurance Investments and Julie Safer You're in good hands,
News Talks Envy.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Evening coming up with the next hour. We've had met
a Google Microsoft all report in the last day, so
Sam Dickie's going to talk us through that after half
past Fonterra Sale going to chat to Jamie McKay about that,
and then we'll head off to the UK at seven
past six. Now, we had the global Microsoft outage this morning,
disrupting websites around the world, and one of the companies
that was affected was of course in New Zealand. Some
flights were delayed as a result, and we have Nicol
(00:41):
Ravashanka in New Zealand's new chief executive and studio with
us right now. Hey, Nicole, Hither are you well? Thanks
if you managed to sort out this morning's disruption.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
We have The teams have done an incredible job dealing
with what's been a sort of global outage. Yeah, has
impacted a lot of big organizations around.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Was everything running to time now? Buy and large.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Everything's running today right.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
By eighty Zealand standards.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
We are. We're very proud of the fact that, you know, well,
I'm very proud of the fact that everyone who works
at the airline takes punctuality very seriously.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I'm so sorry, Like, what a way to start this street.
You're just straight in there with a low blow. I'm sorry.
Prepare yourself. You're going to get along necessarily in the
next five minutes from there above. So what did the
guys have to do? They just have to do the
manual boarding, did they Yep.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
We call it BCP or Business Continuity Plans, and so
they kick into action a bunch of people across the airline,
so teams all around the airline actually have to have
to go into plan B mode. Yeah, and it's a
well rehearsed sort of thing that we do. Operations center,
airport staff are pilots and cabin crew of course, the
(01:55):
digital teams. Yeah, and what they're pulled off today is
absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Hey, do you know what the other day, I was
jumping on a flight and you know, like I got
into the habit of showing them because you're bored with
it as you get onto and you walk across the
air badge and then you get on the plane and
then you show them the ticket again. And they were like,
we don't do that anymore. Is that a thing?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah, we've stopped doing that, So.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I don't have to show them that I'm sitting in
one sea. I can just knock over to one sea.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
No, we trust that you know you're on the right.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Thank god, Nichol, Is this a you thing?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
It was a greg thing actually, but God for that.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
It was ridiculous like that. We were just like like
double handling, won't we.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Well, every second counts and you know, one of the
big aspirations we have is to be in the top five,
if not the top three airlines around the world as
far as safe on time performance is concerned.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, good luck with that now. Thank you, Thanks, You're welcome.
Thanks cheering you on as a customer. Talk to me
about this regional subsidy? Are you really wanting regional subsidy
from the government.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Look, I'm nine days in the job and if there's
anything that's clear in my mind is the fact that
in New Zealand is incredibly critical for New Zealand's success
and that it's a complex business, right, but at the
(03:17):
core of it, our purpose for being is to connect
New Zealanders to each other in New Zealand to the world.
And that's more important here than anywhere else in the
world because so much of our GDP relies on aviation,
be it within the country or connecting New Zealand to
regions around the world. So all of those things are
(03:37):
extremely important and that's what I'm sort of focused on doing.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yep. So they've shut you down already though, haven't they.
I mean, Nichola Willis to shut you down. David Siemill
shut you down, Chris Luxon shut you down. So what
do you do now?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Well, you know, I think there is so much alignment
in what we're all trying to achieve, and quite genuinely,
what we all want is to see New Zealand that's
thriving economy that continues to grow, where we can create
connections and trade and uh with with within the country
and across the world. And just yesterday I was at
(04:11):
the Tourism Industry Association event, right and there's a group
of people who are you know, representing teams. It's Team
New Zealand and it's best frankly, and one of the
things that we're all trying to do government tourism operators
us as Air New Zealand is double tourism's contribution to
(04:32):
national GDP. So I think no one shutting anyone down.
We're all rowing in the same direction, but they're all one.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
They were like, no regional subsidy. You need to sort
it out yourself if you if you're going to shut
down a regional route as a Timaru.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Look, I think there are parts of New Zealand that
rely on air travel as their primary form of connectivity.
Be to Maru, be It Hokatika, be it Gisbon, be
it Kerry Kerry. You know, we take flying in and
out of those regions extremely seriously. We know that it
(05:11):
is a lot more than a commercial decision. It's a
lifeline service at times, and we will do everything we
can and everything we should be doing to ensure that
connectivity remains.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So would you shut down to Maru?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
There are no plans to shut down to Maru?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Is it one of the first ones, because I hear
that's not doing very well.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Well, it's not even in the option set of things
that I'm currently considering good.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
So then you don't need the regional subsidy if you're
not thinking about shutting it down.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
As I said to you, we're all focused on ensuring
New Zealand are connected to each other and New Zealand's But.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I would argue, as a taxpayer which has a you know,
a shareholding any New Zealand, your primary job is not
to connect. Your primary job is to make money. Isn't it.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Life without simple health?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I wish it was? But question on that why is
Quantus doing so much better than you guys?
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Look, that's a question for quantas they operate in a
very different market to the one we operate in, but
also the same market to an extent. They operate out
of New Zealand, but their main focus isn't New Zealand.
We operate in a very different market under different market dynamics.
(06:29):
We've also, you know, got a very young fleet. We've
been investing in the long term health of the business.
We're operating in an economy that is starting to turn.
But you know the last few years have been fairly
difficult for us getting out of COVID And and let's
not forget we've had the incredible bad luck of having
(06:51):
engine troubles, which means twenty percent of our fleet is
currently grounded.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
So you've been unlucky right there. There's an element of
being unlucky here.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
It's been tough.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
How's your first two weeks as chief executive?
Speaker 3 (07:03):
It's been a thrilling ride. It has been very full on,
but it's also you know, when you think about the
reasons you'd want to do this job for me, I
decided a while back that I dedicate my career to
a New Zealand Inc. Sort of a set of challenges
(07:24):
and doing a job like this is one of the
great honors really if that's what you want to do,
because you can actually have a major impact on the
future of the country. And what a privilege to do
a job like that too.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Right well, listen, I can only wish you well, Nicol,
and it's lovely to meet you, and thank you very
much for coming in and beast of luck with running
the company and hopefully your luck turns. Nicol Revshenker, Chief
Executive in New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allan Drive, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio,
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