Air New Zealand Group Executive team
Greg Foran
Chief Executive Officer
Greg Foran started as Chief Executive Officer of Air New Zealand on 3 February 2020. He has since been navigating the airline through the difficulties of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a plan for Air New Zealand to survive, revive and then thrive. He is also a member of the China Business Council.
Greg joined the airline from Walmart U.S where he was Chief Executive Officer from 2014 to 2019. He was responsible for the strategic direction and performance of the company's 4,600 stores and more than 1 million staff. In 2019, Walmart U.S. served more than 140 million customers a week and had revenues of $307 billion.
Greg joined Walmart International in 2011 and served in several capacities, including President and Chief Executive Officer of Walmart China. Prior to joining Walmart International he held several senior positions with Woolworths, the leading retailer in Australia and New Zealand.
Greg has attended Advanced Management Programs at Harvard University and the University of Virginia. He also holds a Diploma in Management from the New Zealand Institute of Management.
Richard Thomson
Chief Financial Officer
Richard Thomson joined the airline in March 2021 and holds the position of Chief Financial Officer overseeing the Corporate Advisory Services, Investor Relations, Internal Audit, Corporate Finance, Networks, Finance and Group Shared Services teams.
Richard is familiar with the aviation industry having previously been with Air New Zealand for 13 years in several senior roles including General Manager Networks, Manager Group Financial Planning and General Manger Corporate Finance.
Richard left the airline in 2017 to join publicly listed company Metlifecare as Chief Financial Officer and was closely involved in its recent acquisition by APVG.
In his earlier career Richard gained experience in the financial services industry advising companies on mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity capital raisings, corporate taxation and company valuations.
Richard holds Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Law (Hons) qualifications from the University of Canterbury and a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance, and maintains a license as a private pilot.
Nikki Dines
Chief People Officer
Nikki Dines has been with Air New Zealand for over 7 years working across a range of leadership and legal counsel roles. Nikki has been involved in supporting or leading many of Air New Zealand's large-scale change projects affecting employees. In her current role as Chief People Officer, Nikki is responsible for developing and executing the airline's people and culture strategy.
Prior to joining Air New Zealand, Nikki worked as an employment lawyer in the United Kingdom and New Zealand for more than 15 years, becoming a Partner at boutique labor law firm, LangtonHudsonButcher.
Nikki has a BA/LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Auckland.
Leanne Geraghty
Chief Customer and Sales Officer
Leanne joined the airline in 2004 and was appointed the Chief Customer and Sales Officer in 2020. In this role she oversees the sales, brand, marketing, customer and cargo functions.
During her time with Air New Zealand, Leanne has held a number of senior commercial and sales positions in both Australia and New Zealand. Before joining the Executive team, Leanne was the Group General Manager Airports, and was responsible for more than 1,800 employees and operations across 50 airports internationally.
Leanne holds a Bachelor of Economics and Finance from the University of New South Wales and has studied International Business management at IMD in Switzerland and Marketing at the Australian Institute of Marketing. She is also a graduate of the Company Directors course from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Kiri Hannifin
Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer
Kiri joined Air New Zealand in November 2022 as the Chief Sustainability Officer, a newly created executive position recognising the importance of sustainability across all aspects of Air New Zealand's operations and the increased focus the airline is placing on addressing its environmental impact. Her portfolio was expanded to include Corporate Affairs in June 2024.
Before joining the airline, Kiri was on the leadership team of Countdown/Woolworths New Zealand where she was responsible for Sustainability, Corporate Affairs, Health and Safety, Quality and Food Safety. Within this role she spearheaded the company's programme to reduce emissions, managed the health, safety and wellbeing of the company's 21,000 staff and led its internal and external stakeholder management activity.
Kiri has a LLB and BA (Political Science) from the University of Canterbury.
Alex Marren
Chief Operating Officer
Alex Marren joined Air New Zealand as Chief Operating Officer in April 2022, following a 36-year career in senior operations, customer, cabin crew and airport leadership roles at United Airlines, Hertz Corporation, and ABM Aviation.
Most recently, Alex was president of ABM Aviation where she led over 20,000 team members serving over 75 airlines and airports across the US, UK, Ireland and the Middle East, providing aviation services and navigating through the pandemic to enhance service and margin profitability year over year.
Alex Marren holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College and has completed the Advanced Education Programme at The Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. She is currently an Advisor for Advancing Women's Excellence in Supply Chain, Operations and Management, and has served on the boards of the American Red Cross in Chicago and the Alliant Credit Union.
David Morgan
Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer
David is no stranger to the aviation industry, joining the airline as a pilot in 1985 and later joining the Flight Operations team in 1996. In 2006, David was appointed the Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer, taking on the responsibility for determining the Flight Operations policy, standards and procedures by which our aircraft are operated, as well as overseeing the Learning, People Safety and Sustainability functions for the airline.
In this role, David is also accountable for the Aviation Group Security Business Continuity and Emergency Management. He is a current Boeing 787 pilot.
Nikhil Ravishankar
Chief Digital Officer
Nikhil Ravishankar is Air New Zealand's Chief Digital Officer, a role he's held since joining the airline in September 2021. Prior to Air New Zealand, Nikhil was Chief Digital Officer at Vector New Zealand, leading the company's digital and information technology function and its transformation programme since 2017. Before this, he was a Managing Director at Accenture in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand and held technology strategy and transformation leadership roles at Telecom New Zealand (Spark).
Nikhil holds a Bachelor of Science, Computer Science and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Auckland and is an advisor and mentor for the university's Strategic CIO program. He's also a member of the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) AUTEUR Influencer Network, on the board of New Zealand Asian Leaders and an advisory committee member of The Auckland Blues Foundation.
Mike Williams
Chief Transformation and Alliances Officer
Mike joined Air New Zealand in 2016 and has since held several senior commercial and strategy roles including Group General Manager Commercial, Alliances & Strategy. Mike has a deep understanding of the business and the aviation sector, and a sharp strategic ability that has served Air New Zealand well as we have established key alliance partnerships over the years. In his current role, he leads the delivery of the Kia Mau business strategy and continues to strengthen the airline's alliance partner relationships.
Prior to Air New Zealand, Mike worked with the Boston Consulting Group in Australia, Finland and the US working with clients in the aviation, technology and retail sectors.
Mike holds a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering with first-class honours and a bachelor of business management in finance from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.