Board & Executive team Board
Meet our Board
Our Board provides governance and oversight of Air New Zealand, helping to shape our strategic direction and guide the airline for the future.
Meet our Board of Directors below, or find out more about our Board charter, Board committees, Director independence and nomination and selection information.
Dame Therese Walsh DNZM, BCA, FCA
Chair
Independent Non-Executive Director (Appointed 1 May 2016)
Dame Therese is currently the Chair of Air New Zealand and ASB Bank, and serves as Director of On Being Bold Ltd, Chair of the nominations committee for the Climate Change Commission, Chair of T20 Cricket World Cup 2028 Australia and NZ, and a member of the Fonterra Independent Assessment Panel.
Neal Barclay
Independent Non-Executive Director (Appointed 1 May 2025)
Neal brings extensive commercial, sustainability and leadership experience having served most recently as the Chief Executive Officer of Meridian Energy, New Zealand's largest electricity generator and retailer.
Claudia Batten
Independent Non-Executive Director (Appointed 28 October 2021)
Claudia was a founding team member of two highly successful technology ventures in the United States. The first was Massive Incorporated, an early pioneer in digital advertising which was sold to Microsoft in 2006. In 2009 she co-founded Victors & Spoils, the world's first advertising agency built on the principles of crowdsourcing.
Dean Bracewell
Independent Non-Executive Director (Appointed 20 April 2020)
Dean has significant experience in the freight and logistics industry, with the majority of his career spent at Freightways Limited (Freightways) where he held a number of senior leadership and Executive roles, including as Managing Director from 1999 to 2017.
Laurissa Cooney BMS (Hons), FCA, CMinstD
Independent Non-Executive Director (Appointed 1 October 2019)
Laurissa is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand. She has previously held senior manager, auditing and consulting roles with Deloitte in New Zealand and Deloitte Touche in London and was the Chief Financial Officer for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
Alison Gerry
Independent Non-Executive Director (Appointed 28 October 2021)
Alison is an independent director with deep experience in the financial services and infrastructure sectors. She is a director of Infratil and ANZ Bank New Zealand. She is also former Chair of Sharesies, former Deputy Chair of Kiwibank and a former director of Spark, TVNZ, NZX, Queenstown Airport and Wellington Airport.
Robert McDonald BCom, FCA, CMInstD
Independent Non-Executive Director (Appointed 24 September 2026)
Rob’s finance career spans more than 30 years, including roles in industry and chartered accounting and periods working in Australia, the United Kingdom and South Africa. He served as Chief Financial Officer of Air New Zealand for 13 years from 2004 to 2017.
Campbell Wilson MCom (Hons)
Independent Non-Executive Director (Appointed 24 September 2026)
Campbell has over three decades of experience in aviation and was previously Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Air India. He held multiple senior executive roles at Singapore Airlines, including Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing, and was also the founding Chief Executive Officer of its low-cost carrier, Scoot.
