Friends dominate Air NZ board

By Nick Stride

Friday 1st March 2002

Five Air New Zealand directors yesterday sat abreast to field questions from the media. Their seating arrangement must surely have been coincidence.

On the far right sat the airline's new managing director, Ralph Norris, a former Business Roundtable chairman and a man vilified by unionists for his tough labour relations stance when he ran ASB Bank.

On the far left was the bulky form of Ken Douglas, the former president of the Council of Trade Unions and national secretary of the Federation of Labour.

Mr Douglas, making his debut as a director of a free-market enterprise, insisted he knew the difference between governance and management. He should not be regarded as a stooge for Air New Zealand's fractious unions.

Mr Norris looked on with barely the hint of a sardonic gleam in his eye.

Chairman John Palmer explained Mr Douglas had been chosen because Air New Zealand was "a people business." Mr Douglas would contribute an understanding of the workplace environment and would be able to draw on a network of contacts around the Pacific Rim.

Most of the questions Mr France fielded concerned the lack of airline experience on the now eight-strong board.

Since last year's government bailout four directors have resigned and two more have said they'll go. They include all those directors with significant aviation board or management experience. The other three new appointees are Jane Freeman, former general manager of Esolutions, former Fletcher Challenge treasury boss John McDonald, and former Dairy Board chief executive Warren Larsen.

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