Executive Leadership Team
James Young Acting Chief Executive
James joined Airways in July 2014 as the Chief Financial Officer, responsible for Airways’ financial management, procurement and property activities. James is currently in the position of Acting Chief Executive.
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Prior to joining Airways, James held leadership positions in the investment management industry while living and working in Tokyo, San Francisco and Hong Kong. Over this time, James gained experience in corporate planning, financial management, startup companies, strategic outsourcing and stakeholder management.
James' vision for Airways is to generate value for shareholders and customers by delivering quality services at a competitive price. He enjoys his involvement in driving varied and interesting projects across the Airways group, working with many talented Airways people.
James holds degrees in Accounting and Economics from Victoria University and is a qualified chartered accountant.
Katie Bhreatnach General Manager of Customer & Regulatory Partnerships / General Counsel
Katie Bhreatnach (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Whakaue) is the General Manager of Customer and Regulatory Partnerships. Katie is an experienced executive leader in ASX100, fortune 500 and public sector contexts, in the areas of customer and stakeholder relations, transformation and strategic programme management, law, insurance, regulation and governance.
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Katie oversees Airways customer, industry and regulatory relationships, as well as Airways strategic change programme management. In her business group are also the legal and regulatory, policy and standards and information design functional business units.
Katie is a member of the Institute of Directors and currently holds governance roles at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and St Mary’s College Ponsonby.
Sharon Cooke Chief Executive Officer, Airways International
Sharon joined Airways in September 2010 and is the CEO of Airways International Ltd, the commercial arm of Airways New Zealand.
In this role Sharon leads Airways’ portfolio of commercial businesses and services, incorporating Airways Training, the aeronautical information management business Aeropath, Airways Aviation Services, and the aeronautical billing provider Flightyield.
Sharon has extensive experience in aviation management and in the higher education and training sector. She is currently a board director of Aviation English Services Ltd, and an independent director for the International Aviation Academy Ltd.
Prior to joining Airways, Sharon worked the tertiary education sector with senior management and academic roles at the University of Canterbury and the Christchurch College of Education.
Sharon is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and is also a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.
Jamie Gray Head of Public Affairs and Acting Head of People and Capability
Jamie joined Airways in January 2021 as Head of Public Affairs. Based in Auckland, Jamie is responsible for Airways’ external and internal communications, media, government and stakeholder relations and brand management. The Public Affairs and Communications Group also drives our sustainability strategy and initiatives.
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Jamie brings to Airways a wealth of experience in the public sector with his previous role as the Chief of Staff for the New Zealand National Party and prior to this he held senior roles in National and Labour-led Governments advising senior Ministers on significant Transport, Economic Development, Energy and Resources and Infrastructure policy issues.
Jamie has a well-regarded leadership and management style. He is a strong communicator and has excellent relationship management skills honed through years of working with senior decision makers and stakeholders.
Erin Lee Acting Chief Financial Officer
Erin joined Airways in July 2019 and is responsible for Airways’ financial management activities. Erin manages key relationships with Airways' Audit and Finance Committee and the New Zealand Treasury.
Read morePrior to joining Airways, Erin was an Associate Director at advisory and investment firm KordaMentha and General Manager of Finance at Carter Holt Harvey LVL.
She holds a Bachelor of Business degree and is a Chartered Accountant with 15+ years of experience in managing financial aspects of businesses across various sectors.
Kim Nichols Head of Safety and Assurance
Kim specialises in safety, governance, change and safety culture. Since joining Airways in 2010, Kim has integrated Airways' governance functions for safety (health and safety and operational safety), audit and risk management, security management and analysis and advisory. Kim has lead the creation of the integrated Airways Safety Management System, encompassing the CANSO standard of excellence, CAA Rule Part 100 and the Health and Safety Act 2015.
Becoming a Just Culture Champion in 2015, Kim’s focus is on embedding a safety culture that enables positive reporting, accountability and learning. Kim is also the Crisis Manager for Airways.
Kim is part of the Global Safety Network for CANSO, a participant in the NZ Business Leaders forum and a member of a number of risk and audit forums.
Prior to joining Airways, Kim held senior roles in companies such as British Gas Trading and Deloitte (UK). Kim has a commerce degree from Lincoln University and is a qualified auditor.
Geoff Peck Acting Chief Information Officer
Read moreGeoff has worked at Airways as the Manager Enterprise Architecture, Security and networks for six years.
Previously Geoff was the chief technical architect at Tait Communications, CEO of Biotech company Syft Technologies, and CEO of router/switch developer Allied Telesyn labs.
Geoff has degrees in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Operations Research.
Katie Wilkinson Head of Air Traffic Services
Katie was appointed as Head of Air Traffic Services in December 2019. Prior to joining Airways, Katie was a member of Airservices Australia’s senior leadership team. Most recently she was the Delivery Manager for Australia’s Northern Operations enroute air traffic control facility. In this role, she had significant people leadership accountability for service delivery across the Brisbane flight information region.
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Katie is an accomplished and capable project and change manager, with extensive experience in effectively leading whole scale change and improvement programs in large aviation organisations.
She is a qualified aircraft maintenance engineer, spending seven years in the Royal Australian Navy.