Air New Zealand has appointed Joe McCollum as Chief People Officer effective 14 April 2020.

Mr McCollum will take over from Jodie King, who is leaving the airline to become Chief People Officer at Vodafone New Zealand.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran says Mr McCollum will bring to the airline an extensive depth of global change management and Executive leadership experience forged in challenging environments.

“Joe is no stranger to the type of large scale, rapid workplace change that Air New Zealand has ahead in the wake of Covid-19.  He will be a key member of the team to rebuild our airline,” Mr Foran says.

Mr McCollum is a former Group Human Resources Director at Spark and prior to that headed Human Resources for global chemicals giant ICI plc based out of London.  He has also worked across the software, music and media industries.

Meanwhile, the airline has contracted one of New Zealand’s most experienced employment relations practitioners, Paul Diver, to support Mr McCollum with the workforce change management process currently underway.