Joe McCollum is the new chief people officer Larry De Shon and Dean Bracewell join board.
Air New Zealand has appointed Joe McCollum as chief people officer, effective April 14, 2020.
He will take over from Jodie King, who is leaving the airline to become CPO at Vodafone New Zealand.
Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran said McCollum will bring to the airline an extensive depth of global change management and executive leadership experience forged in challenging environments.
“Joe is no stranger to the type of large-scale, rapid workplace change that Air New Zealand has ahead in the wake of Covid-19. He will be a key member of the team to rebuild our airline,” Foran said.
McCollum is a former group human resources director at Spark and prior to that headed HR for global chemicals giant ICI, based out of London. He has also worked across the software, music and media industries.
Meanwhile, the airline has contracted one of New Zealand’s most experienced employment relations practitioners, Paul Diver, to support McCollum with the workforce change management process currently under way.
Two experienced business leaders have been appointed to the Air NZ board of directors.
Former global CEO of Avis Budget Group, Larry De Shon, and former Freightways manager director Dean Bracewell will join the board from April 20, 2020. The appointments are to fill the vacancy left by Sir John Key, who retired as a director last month, and as part of succession planning for when deputy chair Jan Dawson steps down at the annual shareholders’ meeting in September after nine years as a director.
Larry De Shon, “will bring outstanding international business, transport and aviation experience to the board. He was responsible for 11 brands and over $US9 billion in revenue when he retired from Avis Budget Group last year and had a distinguished 28-year career with United Airlines,” said chair Dame Therese Walsh.
“Larry is well familiar with New Zealand from his time leading Avis Budget Group globally and has a keen sense of the opportunities ahead for Air New Zealand both domestically and internationally. His deep experience in growing a global business in the wake of the GFC is also timely given the phase Air New Zealand will go through rebuilding post Covid-19,” she said.
Dame Therese said Dean Bracewell’s deep transport and logistics experience will be of immense value to the board.
“Dean is one of New Zealand’s most highly regarded business leaders and intimately understands what it takes for a company to succeed in a tough and competitive environment.
Bracewell is currently a director of Tainui Group Holdings, Property for Industry and the Halberg Foundation. He is also a member of the government’s Future of Rail Steering Group.
Bracewell, who is of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāi Te Rangi descent, said he is thrilled to be given the opportunity to play a role in supporting Air New Zealand’s future success.
De Shon and Bracewell will be up for election by shareholders at the annual meeting this year.
Meanwhile, former New Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Ross Wilson has been appointed as an independent adviser to the Air New Zealand board of directors providing strategic advice from a unionised worker perspective as the company reshapes its workforce in the wake of the impact of Covid-19. Ross has a strong background in employment relations and governance.
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