Rob Fyfe

Rob Fyfe
portrait photo of a man wearing a medal
Fyfe in 2021
Born
Robert Ian Fyfe

(1961-05-06) 6 May 1961 (age 63)[1]
Christchurch, New Zealand
Known forFormer CEO of Air New Zealand

Robert Ian Fyfe[2] CNZM (born 6 May 1961)[1] is a New Zealand businessman and a former chief executive officer (CEO) of New Zealand national airline Air New Zealand.[3]

Early life and education

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Fyfe was born in Christchurch, joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force straight from high school, and earned a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) honours from the University of Canterbury in 1982.[1]

Career

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Fyfe rose to be Flight Commander in charge of maintenance of the Air Force's Skyhawk Squadron at the age of 24.[4]

He held positions at Telecom, and Postbank.[5] He was General Manager of the Bank of New Zealand, Chief Operating Officer of ITV Digital in the UK (which went into bankruptcy while he was at the helm) and group general manager of Air New Zealand.[3][6]

Fyfe succeeded Ralph Norris as Air New Zealand CEO in 2005.[7] He resigned as the airline's CEO as of 31 December 2012.[8][9]

Fyfe was on the board of clothing designer and manufacturer Icebreaker from July 2012,[10] and its executive chairman from September 2013.[11]

On 28 November 2012 Fyfe was appointed to the board of Antarctica New Zealand. He took up the position in February 2013.[12]

Fyfe was awarded an honorary doctorate of commerce from the University of Canterbury in April 2015.[13]

In late March 2020, he was appointed as a liaison between government and the private sector for the extent of the Covid-19 crisis.[14][15]

In the 2021 New Year Honours, Fyfe was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business and tourism.[16]

Personal life

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He currently lives in Auckland, New Zealand.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Air New Zealand appoints Chief Executive Officer". Air New Zealand. 14 October 2005.
  2. ^ "Air New Zealand 2010 Annual Report – Financials" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Air New Zealand appoints Rob Fyfe as new chief". Forbes. AFX News Limited. 14 October 2005. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  4. ^ Daniels, Chris (21 October 2005). "Cool hand takes controls for Air NZ". Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  5. ^ van den Bergh, Roeland (4 February 2010). "Fyfe can 'write his own ticket'". Stuff. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Rob Fyfe – Blue sky thinking behind the clouds". 31 August 2006.
  7. ^ Bradley, Grant (22 December 2012). "Airline role forced Fyfe to shed his shell". The New Zealand Herald.
  8. ^ "Fyfe resigns from Air New Zealand". National Business Review. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  9. ^ Bradley, Grant (7 June 2013). "Air NZ's flying salesman". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Fyfe to join Icebreaker board". Stuff. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Fyfe breaks ice". The Press. 4 July 2013. p. A11.
  12. ^ "Appointments to board of Antarctica NZ". New Zealand Government. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  13. ^ "Honorary degrees for Canterbury leaders". The Press. 18 April 2015. p. A7. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  14. ^ Manch, Thomas (26 March 2020). "Coronavirus: Government to give $27m to social service agencies for vulnerable amid lockdown". Stuff. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  15. ^ Stock, Rob (9 April 2020). "Coronavirus: How Tindall, Morgan and Fyfe worked to ready country for Covid-19 fight". Stuff. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  16. ^ "New Year honours list 2021". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Biography Rob Fyfe". Star Alliance. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
Business positions
Preceded by Chief executive officer of Air New Zealand
2005–2012
Succeeded by