Our People

Jie Wu

Chairman

Mr Wu graduated from the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) with a Bachelor of Laws degree.  He obtained an EMBA degree at Peking University, Economic Faculty and CEIBS MBA School after graduation.  He practised as a lawyer from 1989 to 1991 and founded Zhejiang Rifa Textile Machinery Co Ltd in 1993.  In 1999 he founded Zhejiang Rifa Precision Machinery Co Ltd, which is currently listed on the Shenzheng Stock Exchange.  Mr Wu is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Zhejiang Rifa Holding Group Co Ltd, a company which he founded in 2002.

Simon Craddock

Director

Simon is an experienced executive with a background in corporate strategy, operations and performance improvement with Air New Zealand, Deloitte, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.  He specialises in strategic planning and transformational change initiatives and has worked across the aviation, defence, manufacturing, and financial services sectors.  Simon also sits on the board of Public Trust and the Harvard Business School Association of NZ and is a member of the Institute of Directors.

Martin Gray

Independent Director

Mr Gray, who was appointed as a director on 5 April 2017, has over 20 years of corporate finance experience in Asia, New Zealand and Europe.  Martin is currently an Executive Director with Armillary Private Capital and previously headed M&A services for EY in New Zealand.  His key areas of expertise include mergers and acquisitions, business disposals, finance raisings, project finance, independent expert reports, valuations and due diligence, with substantial listed and private company lead advisory experience.  Martin holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Diploma in Business (Finance) from the University of Auckland, and the CA qualification through Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Mark Pitt

Director

Mark is currently International Adviser for Airline Executives and Boards, Safety Specialist, Director on Airways NZ Board (Air Traffic Management), Chairman of Airways Safety Board, RIFA Non-Executive Director AWK Holdings Ltd, Managing Director Quinn International distribution, owner of NM3 International Investments Pty Ltd, owner Ginger and Me Pty Ltd and Owner Frontseat Leadership Solutions. Chief Executive and airline managing director of Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Ltd, Virgin Samoa and Air New Zealand Link. Senior airline roles in regional and international airlines, both full service and low -cost models, include Chief Executive, Managing Director, Flight Operations Manager and Director of Air Force Recruitment.

Chris Hart

Chief Executive Officer

Chris joined Airwork in 2005.  His roles within Airwork have included General Manager of the Helicopter Leasing and Operations business, General Manager of the Fixed-Wing division and more recently Group Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Airwork, Chris had a background in sales and marketing with Black & Decker and Lion Nathan where he was involved in sales management and strategic projects.  Chris has a degree in Marketing and International Business from Auckland University.

Phil Wiltshire

Chief Financial Officer

Phil joined Airwork in 2019 after 20 years as CFO in some large NZ FMCG businesses. Most recently Phil was CFO at Vitaco Health Group. Vitaco listed on the ASX in 2015. Prior to Vitaco Phil was CFO at Goodman Fielder New Zealand and Mainland Products (part of the Fonterra group). Phil started his career at Deloitte and also worked in various finance roles at Air New Zealand. He is a CA and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland.

Mark Delany

Chief Operating Officer

Mark has a very broad aviation and senior executive background. Following a successful career in the RNZAF, Mark flew for Air New Zealand for a number of years before making his way into aviation management. Mark held senior leadership roles with Hevylift, Queensland Government, Careflight and more recently as the Executive General Manager for Toll’s Defence and Government Business including the helicopter business. Over Mark’s time this business has been transformed into a world class EMS operator including the ACE training centre based in NSW, operating the largest fleet of AW139s in Australasia.

Shane McMahon

General Manager - Helicopters

Shane joined Airwork in August 2017. Shane has a broad background in general management, operations, sales and marketing. With a degree in Economics, Shane spent time working in the US, Europe and UK before returning to NZ in 2000. In 2002 he joined Navman and held a number of roles including Head of Marketing and Business Development where he was responsible for three global marine brands and sales channels in 50 countries. Shane has also held roles at Bank of NZ where he led a sales team in the Corporate and Institutional bank and General Manager of Fusion Electronics, a New Zealand based business with five offices globally which was recently sold to Garmin. Shane spent the last eight years at Infratil owned NZ Bus, where he was Chief Operating Officer Northern, leading a team of over 1500 people with significant enhancements in customer service and business performance made during his time.

Wayne Christie

Director of Sales and Leasing - Helicopters

Wayne is the Director of Sales and Leasing for the Helicopter Division, and has been at Airwork since October 2006.  Before joining Airwork, Wayne was the General Manager of Origin Pacific Airfreight Limited for seven years.  Prior to that, he was General Manager of the airline CityJet and responsible for its growth from one aircraft to five whilst also serving as a Captain. Wayne holds an Airline Transport Pilot Licence.

Ellen Phillips

Commercial Director - Fixed Wing Leasing

Ellen has worked with Airwork as an aviation consultant in its Fixed Wing division since 2014. For nearly 30 years she has advised aviation industry clients regarding capital raising, mergers, fleet acquisitions, leasing and sales. Her clients have included multinational firms in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin and South America, and the US. She is managing director of Fieldstone Aviation LLC, was Aviation Group Head and managing director at Fieldstone Private Capital Group, and worked in transportation finance at both JP Morgan Chase Bank and US WEST Capital. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with Special Honors from Hunter College and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Simon Lange

Senior Vice President - Asia and Australia Air Freight

Simon is a finance and business graduate.

He was Managing Director of PBT Transport from 1993 to 1997 where he led the transformation of the company into a major force in the transport sector by increasing its footprint throughout New Zealand and adding courier and bulk transport divisions.

From 1999 to 2003, Simon was a Director and a Chief Operating Officer of Credit Suisse First Boston covering the Asia Pacific region. During this period Simon was based in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo and was part of a team that developed CSFB into a major investment banking force in Asia.

Upon completion of this role Simon returned to New Zealand. He joined Airwork as its Chief Financial Officer from 2004 to 2007, he then took on several contract roles that included CFO of Auckland Airport, GM of Queenstown and Wanaka Airports, and Group Treasurer of PGG Wrightson.

Simon returned to Airwork in 2013 as General Manager Strategy and Acquisitions, he was then appointed General Manager of Fixed Wing Airline from 2017 to 2019. In August 2019 he accepted a new role as Senior Vice President to develop a new Air Freighter Airline in South East Asia and China.

Greg Steele

Legal Services Manager

Greg joined Airwork in 2011, and is the Legal Services Manager.  Prior to this, Greg spent eight years working for the Toll Group.  During this time he held the roles of General Counsel for Toll NZ, which at that time was listed on the NZ stock exchange. Following the sale of the rail and ferry businesses to the New Zealand Government, Greg was seconded to KiwiRail to assist in the transition of the business and to unwind an outsourcing arrangement.  Afterwards, he took the role of Lead Counsel of Toll Global Resources, a Melbourne-based division of Toll Holdings Limited.  Greg holds a Bachelor of Laws from Canterbury University.

Brian Fair

Chief Information Officer

Brian joined Airwork in 2014 as Chief Information Officer, after spending 4 years in Australia as the CIO of Wesfarmers Insurance.  Brian previously held technology leadership roles at Lumley Insurance, ASB Bank, and KPMG Consulting/BearingPoint. Brian has a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Information Systems, a Master of Business Leadership degree from the University of South Africa.

Claude Alviani

Business Development Manager

Claude has recently been appointed as Business Development Manager and also holds the position of Safety Systems Manager at Airwork. Prior to this, Claude was Group General Manager of Airwork Fixed Wing.  He has 38 years' experience as a military and commercial pilot, and as a senior aviation manager.  Previously, Claude held the position of Aviation Assurance Advisor for a major oil and gas producer.  There he was engaged to provide expert-level advice in a range of aviation matters across all levels of the business.  Claude holds an Air Transport (Helicopter) and Commercial (Aeroplane) Licence; he is a Qualified Helicopter Instructor and CASA Approved Testing Officer, and he is qualified as an ISO9001 Quality Management Systems - Lead Aviation Auditor.

Florence Wong

Director of Investor Relations

Florence recently joined Airwork as Director, Investor Relations. She has over 16 years of commercial experience in New Zealand with Carter Holt Harvey and Ernst and Young advising corporates on their investment strategy, compliance matters and due diligence reviews. Her most recent role being the Associate Director of Transaction Tax and the Head of the China Business Group at Ernst and Young. Florence is a CA member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Accounting from the University of Auckland. In her role, Florence will also assist the company as we look to develop opportunities in the China market.