Airways NZ leadership reshuffle: Darin Cusack to replace Denise Church

Air traffic controller Airways NZ has made two internal promotions, saying chair Denise Church is retiring.

The changes come after an eventful few months, including August’s oceanic outage debacle and a no-show at Nelson Airport on the weekend.

Airways NZ and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Simeon Brown said deputy chair Darin Cusack would become chair.

Danny Tuato’o, a current director, will become deputy chair.

Brown said Cusack’s term would run for three years from October 31 and Tuato’o’s term would run to June 30, 2027.

Brown said Cusack and Tuato’o would provide the leadership needed to help Airways deliver safe and efficient air navigation services.

On Friday, Airways NZ general manager safety and assurance Kim Nichols resigned.

Nichols, previously a Deloitte senior manager, was with Airways NZ for 16 and a half years.

She announced her resignation in a LinkedIn post.

Airways late last month said chief executive James Young would not be resigning.

Airways today said Cusack had held chief executive and senior executive roles across airport, air navigation, aviation security and airline organisations.

Airways said Cusack joined the board in 2018.

Cusack said he looked forward to ensuring Airways delivered safe, efficient and resilient air traffic services across New Zealand’s 30 million square kilometres of controlled airspace.

He said he would do so “while understanding and adapting to the diverse needs of those who use New Zealand’s airspace”.

Meanwhile, the country’s peak commercial aviation body said Saturday’s Nelson Airport incident was another sign of Airways lacking transparency.

An early morning flight was delayed after the local air traffic control tower was left unmanned.

Aviation Industry Association (AIANZ) chief executive Simon Wallace said the association received no “information or comms on the incident, just as we didn’t with the issue over the Tasman that happened in August“.

Wallace told the Herald: “Airways need to be transparent and communicate with the public the reasons for such delays”.

Wallace said air traffic control no-shows of this nature were not common.

“There were no safety issues regarding the delay, but where the public should be concerned is the lack of communication by Airways,” he added.

“This [is] an area where there needs to be vast improvement by the organisation.”

Airways on the weekend said it had well-established contingency arrangements for such situations.

John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.

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