Robert Ian Fyfe (born 6 May 1961) is a New Zealand businessman and a former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

(CEO) of New Zealand national airline

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacif ...

Career

He was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force straight from high school, and earned a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) honours from the University of Canterbury in 1982. He rose to be Flight Commander in charge of maintenance of the Air Force's Skyhawk Squadron at the age of 24. He held positions at Telecom, and Postbank. He was General Manager of the Bank of New Zealand, Chief Operating Officer of

ITV Digital ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners ...

in the UK (which went into bankruptcy while he was at the helm) and group general manager of Air New Zealand. Fyfe succeeded Ralph Norris as

CEO in 2005. He resigned as the airline's CEO as of 31 December 2012. Fyfe was on the board of clothing designer and manufacturer

Icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

from July 2012, and its executive chairman from September 2013. On 28 November 2012 Fyfe was appointed to the board of Antarctica New Zealand. He took up the position in February 2013. Fyfe was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

of commerce from the University of Canterbury in April 2015. In late March 2020, he was appointed as a liaison between government and the private sector for the extent of the

Covid-19 crisis The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In the 2021 New Year Honours, Fyfe was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to business and tourism. He currently lives in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fyfe, Rob 1961 births Living people New Zealand chief executives Air New Zealand University of Canterbury alumni People educated at Burnside High School 21st-century New Zealand engineers 20th-century New Zealand engineers Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit