Leanne Geraghty’s departure a big blow to Air New Zealand

Leanne Geraghty has held top roles at Air NZ since 2004.

Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty’s departure will leave another big gap in institutional knowledge at the airline.

While her exit is Air NZ’s loss, it could be a gain for an airline such as Qantas. She finishes at Air NZ in January and is returning to Australia, where she has children.

There’s travel industry speculation she may join former Air NZ colleague Cam Wallace at Qantas, where he heads that airline’s international operation. Geraghty succeeded him in the revenue role when he left Air NZ in 2020.

Geraghty joined the airline as New South Wales state manager in 2004, holding several roles in Australia before relocating to New Zealand in 2016.

She is one of nine people on the airline’s group executive team.

“After 20 incredible years with Air New Zealand, I have made the difficult decision to resign from my role as chief customer and sales officer,” Geraghty said today.

“I will be returning to Sydney to be closer to my family.”

Geraghty, known widely as “LG”, said in an email she sent today after an Air NZ release that it was “with mixed emotions that I share some significant news with you”.

She said after 20 “incredible years” with Air NZ, she had made the difficult decision to resign to be closer to her family.

Her deep knowledge of Air NZ’s operation was built up through a broad a number of roles.

She became general manager of Australia, regional general manager sales of New Zealand and the Pacific, group general manager of global airports, and finally took on her latest role. During the past year, Air NZ passenger revenue was $5.9 billion, close to pre-pandemic levels.

“Each position has brought its own challenges and triumphs, but what has remained constant is the passion for the airline and, most importantly, its people,” she said.

Air NZ chief executive Greg Foran said Geraghty’s contribution to the airline over the past two decades had been immense.

“Leanne has been an invaluable part of our team, and her contributions have been pivotal in shaping the airline’s success over the past 20 years. She has been an exceptional leader and team member at Air New Zealand."

Geraghty pointed to milestones during the past two decades, from successful market launches of New York, Houston, Chicago, Taipei, Seoul and Buenos Aires to achieving global sales objectives through expanding the airline’s international operations.

"Appointing Air New Zealand’s next uniform designer, implementing numerous brand and marketing campaigns, and the production of multiple safety videos are just a few of the highlights of my time at the airline."

The announcement of her departure follows chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan’s decision to step down from an executive role at the airline. There has now been a near-total turnover the Air NZ executive team since the pandemic hit in early 2020.

Leanne Geraghty

• Joined Air NZ in 2004, spending more than a decade in Australia.
• Grew up in Gilgandra, a NSW country town then of 4300. “My dad owned the local coach and touring company, and that was my entrance into airlines as he used to do a lot of tours with what was then Air New South Wales. I shared the love of tourism and heard all about it because of his work in that industry,” she told the Herald in 2020.
• Worked in reservations and sales at Ansett before a job as national agency sales manager for Avis in Australia.
• Studied part-time for a Bachelor of Economics and Finance while working (and has also studied international business management at IMD in Switzerland and marketing at the Australian Institute of Marketing).

She is also a graduate of the Company Directors course from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.