Air NZ boss shuns Qantas job

Outgoing Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe has no desire to take the top job at Qantas if a coup to oust Alan Joyce was to go ahead.

Stepping down at 51 years of age, Fyfe said it would be unlikely that he would return to the aviation industry following his self-appointed three month summer break, the Australian reported.

Mr Fyfe believes his strong reputation and identity at Air New Zealand would be compromised if he was to take a position with a competitive carrier and is interested in exploring alternative options.

“I'll be an Air New Zealander through and through for the rest of my life,” Mr Fyfe said.

“I think one of the reasons that my time at Air New Zealand is perceived as being successful is that I really connect with the New Zealand identity and how to bring that to life in a quintessentially New Zealand company.

“So I'd like to do that again in something quite different, a completely different sector.”

Christopher Luxon will take over as chief executive at Air New Zealand on December 31, 2012.

Although he won’t accept a role at Qantas, Mr Fyfe shared his opinion on Australia’s national airline.

“I think inevitably Qantas needed to form some type of alliance to address the substantial losses that it keeps telling us it's making in the long-haul arena,” Mr Fyfe said.

“But I was surprised that the solution was to do a deal with Emirates... on the surface of that, it looks like a very good deal for Emirates; I'm not exactly clear if it's a good deal for Qantas.”

Sourced: etravelblackboardasia