Air New Zealand Lures Walmart’s Top U.S. Exec Home as Its New Chief – Skift

Walmart’s Greg Foran, the architect of the revival of its U.S. stores, is departing to run his native New Zealand’s flag carrier.

Foran will be CEO of Air New Zealand, which is 49 percent owned by the government and part of the nation’s effort to boost tourism and trade. He often spoke fondly of his home country, and Air New Zealand posted a video online early Friday that showed him talking about his pride at returning to his native land. His son, Kieran, is a professional rugby league player and a member of New Zealand’s national team.

Air New Zealand is one of the highest profile jobs in the country — and one that doesn’t become available often. There have been only two CEO changes at the airline since 2005. Foran will replace Christopher Luxon, who resigned in September after more than six years in the role to start a new career in politics.

Foran will be coming in at a time the airline is seeking revive earnings growth after net income last fiscal year tumbled the most in a decade, prompting the company to hire an external consultant to deepen cost cuts.

Air New Zealand, based in Auckland, said in an email that Foran wouldn’t be available for comment until he formally starts the position.

Foran, Walmart’s CEO, leaves a big hole at the world’s largest retailer on the cusp of the holiday season. John Furner, 45, was named to replace Foran, according to a statement.

Foran, 58, was largely responsible for whipping Walmart’s core business into shape over the past five years by making its 4,700 stores cleaner and easier to shop in. His efforts led to more than three straight years of increases in quarterly same-store sales, the key metric in retail. But in recent months, tensions had emerged between Foran and Walmart’s U.S. online chief, Marc Lore.

Walmart shares climbed 0.6 percent to $119.61 on Thursday. Air New Zealand’s stock was little changed in early Friday trading.

In a note to clients, Bernstein analyst Brandon Fletcher said Foran “did his job really well” and “seriously loves New Zealand.” Furner is more of “an old-school” Walmart executive, Fletcher said, while noting he is a “strong people leader.”

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

This article was written by Matthew Boyle from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

See full article