Kia ora!
This is your opportunity to lead one of the most visible and critical portfolios in New Zealand aviation. As General Manager Airports, you will shape the experience of millions of customers, drive operational excellence at scale, and play a pivotal role in the future of Air New Zealand’s ground and inflight network.
Reporting to the Chief Operations Officer – Ground and Inflight, you will lead a complex, nationwide operation with significant breadth, autonomy and impact. From our three main New Zealand airports to regional ports, global lounges and valet services, you will be at the helm of performance, planning and service delivery. You will build and strengthen incredible networks across New Zealand aviation, continue strong and constructive partnerships with unions, and influence long term strategic direction across our airport ecosystem.
With a strong reputation for culture, service and innovation, Air New Zealand is consistently ranked as one of New Zealand’s most attractive employers. Behind the scenes and on the ground, our operations leaders are shaping strategy, driving performance, and supporting a thriving, future fit airline.
How you’ll make an impact
• Develop and deliver the airport strategy, aligning long term planning with enterprise priorities and operational targets
• Lead a broad portfolio across major airports, regional operations, lounges, training and offshore connections, optimising performance, cost and customer outcomes
• Dial up performance in customer experience, lifting satisfaction, safety and reliability metrics year on year
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to reduce complexity, remove duplication and embed operational excellence across the network
• Lead large scale workforce engagement, maintaining strong union relationships and supporting change adoption across diverse teams
• Strengthen stakeholder engagement across regulators, airport companies, suppliers and third party airline partners
• Ensure full compliance with regulatory, legislative and operational standards, safeguarding operational integrity
What we’re looking for
• Significant senior leadership experience in a complex airline or aviation environment
• Proven success developing and executing strategy across large, multi-site operations
• A strong track record of delivering superior operational and financial results
• Deep experience leading change, managing industrial relations and engaging large unionised workforces
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build trusted partnerships across the aviation sector
• Tertiary qualification in a relevant discipline, or equivalent experience
If you meet the majority of the criteria and are excited by the opportunity, we’d love to hear from you.
Ready for take off?
This is a rare opportunity to lead at enterprise scale, influence the future of airport operations in Aotearoa, and leave a lasting legacy on customer performance and operational excellence. If you are ready to shape strategy, inspire large teams and strengthen aviation partnerships across New Zealand, we invite you to apply.
Applications close 18th March 2026.
Please note while we will provide an outcome to all applicants, due to the high volume of applications we will only organise follow-up conversations with shortlisted candidates.
Additional Information
At Air New Zealand, we are proudly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and believe in creating a truly inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves and thrive. Our people are our greatest asset – because while everything else we do in our operation can be replicated by our competitors, it is our people that truly set us apart. We are firm believers in celebrating the differences and diversity of thought our people bring to their roles.
Whāia te pae tawhiti kia tata. Ko te pae tata whakamaua, kia tina.
"Seek to bring distant horizons closer. Once near, seize them and make them your reality."
