From 'rock star CEO' to New Year gong: Rob Fyfe recognised for service to business and tourism

Wednesday, 30 December 2020

One-hundred-and-fifty-four people from a variety of sectors including education, sport, health, and science have been honoured.

Former Air New Zealand boss Rob Fyfe says he’s drawn to problem-solving, even if that means being faced with a crisis from time to time.

Fyfe, who has just been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and tourism, has managed his fair share crises over the years, from the crash of an Air New Zealand-owned plane that killed all seven people on board, to advising the Government on the coronavirus pandemic.

“I really enjoy nutting my way through a really really difficult issue,” Fyfe said.

He said his leadership style was people-centric, and during a crisis he always put people first by engaging, supporting and enabling them.

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This year Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appointed Fyfe as a business adviser on the Covid-19 recovery. Fyfe said the two were speaking fortnightly.

He said he very much aligned with her crisis management approach and the two were “kindred spirits” in that regard.

Fyfe said he never really planned his career, he just took opportunities when they came up.

In 1995 Fyfe, 33 at the time, was interviewed for an article which ran in the Evening Post.

The former air force officer and engineering graduate had recently been made marketing manager at the Bank of New Zealand, a role previously held by trailblazing businesswoman Theresa Gattung.

Rob Fyfe pictured in 2003 when he took on the role of group general manager of airlines at Air New Zealand.

In the article Fyfe says he thrives in changing environments and, rather than planning his career, he gravitates to where the opportunities are.

He said he still operated by that ethos today.

Fyfe had spent most of his career working for New Zealand companies and to be recognised with a New Year Honour was “a thrill”, he said.

“To get recognition here in a country that means so much to me, I find very humbling.”

At 59 years old he says he feels like he still has plenty to offer and is too young to be receiving a New Year Honour.

In 2003 Fyfe started as Air New Zealand's chief information officer. His appointment came not long after the airline was bailed out by the taxpayer with a cash injection of $885 million after the collapse of subsidiary Ansett Australia.

Rob Fyfe says he likes taking risks and going into businesses or sectors that he doesn’t know much about and finding ways they can work better.

From the outset Fyfe was heavily involved in a strategic review of Air New Zealand's business, which included a cost-cutting plan to save $245m a year, costing some 1500 workers their jobs.

Within two years he would be named as chief executive, a role he would hold until his eventual departure from the airline in 2012.

During his time at Air New Zealand Fyfe faced periods of severe turbulence including mass layoffs, staff strikes, the closure of the airline's heavy aircraft maintenance operation, the global financial crisis and the loss of an Airbus A320 in a crash off southern France that killed five New Zealanders and two German pilots in 2008.

Following the disaster Fyfe visited the crash site with families of those on board, and vowed to bring the bodies of the crash victims home.

In 2009 Fyfe also said sorry on behalf of Air New Zealand to the families of the victims of the 1979 Mount Erebus disaster for the way they were treated in the aftermath of the crash.

On the operational front he introduced a new fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs, ordered a new fleet of Boeing 787-9 aircraft, introduced the world’s first lie flat economy class SkyCouch, got an Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia alliance across the line, took a stake in the Aussie carrier, and oversaw the redesign of Air New Zealand’s cabin uniforms, awarding the contract to New Zealand design shop Zambesi.

After announcing he was leaving Air New Zealand Fyfe was famously dubbed by airline insiders as a “rock star CEO”.

The self-proclaimed fashionista was also frequently name checked as one of New Zealand's top dressed businessmen and infamously wore nothing but body paint and underwear for an air New Zealand ad.

It was fitting then, that after Air New Zealand, Fyfe joined the board of merino clothing brand Icebreaker before going on to become its chief executive.

He’s sat as a director on the board of Michael Hill International, Air Canada and Antarctica NZ among others. He was also appointed as an independent adviser to the Government on plans for the re-entry of the Pike River Mine.

And, as New Zealand faced the prospect of economic disaster at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Fyfe was appointed by Ardern in an unpaid position to liaise between government and business.

She later appointed him to a new paid role as a business adviser on the Covid-19 recovery. Fyfe at the time said he would be an adviser on the “recovery and rebuild” of the economy until at least the start of next year.

Fyfe said he now spent a lot of his time mentoring and investing in young entrepreneurs, something he found more satisfying than pursuing his own career.