Latest / Best of Business / Stephanie Tully: Jetstar CEO on the company celebrating 17 years in New Zealand

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Stephanie Tully: Jetstar CEO on the company celebrating 17 years in New Zealand · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News talksed be follow
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  Speaker 2: Jetstar is almost of legal drinking age. The airline's New
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  Speaker 2: Zealand operation turns seventeen years old today and despite the
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  Speaker 2: global for Your crisis, the company continues to see New
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  Speaker 2: Zealand as a growth market. And Stephanie Tully is in
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  Speaker 2: Australia and she is the CEO of jetste and joins
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  Speaker 2: you now.
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  Speaker 3: Hello Stephanie, Hello Andrew, it's nice to talk to you.
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  Speaker 2: Congratulations seventeen years old. There were some people at the
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  Speaker 2: beginning who wondered whether you'd ever make it.
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  Speaker 3: No, I know it's a big milestone for us. And
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  Speaker 3: we also have our biggest sale of the year at
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  Speaker 3: this time, and I was over there a couple of
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  Speaker 3: weeks ago, just sort of reiterating our commitment to New Zealand,
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  Speaker 3: both domestically and across the Tasman obviously. So yeah, it's
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  Speaker 3: important for us, and we get excited. We get excited
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  Speaker 3: when we have big sales and we always have a
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  Speaker 3: big birthday sales. Wow.
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  Speaker 2: So has New Zealand over the seventeen years been a
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  Speaker 2: pot of gold? Venture for you.
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  Speaker 3: Oh look, i'd say it's a tough market. I think
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  Speaker 3: what I will say is I feel more than ever
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  Speaker 3: in the last sort of a couple of years that
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  Speaker 3: New Zealanders are really giving Jetstar ago, which is great.
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  Speaker 3: It's difficult competing as the sort of second airline over there,
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  Speaker 3: and it's a you know, it can be a tough environment,
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  Speaker 3: but we're really committed to getting you know, tourism back
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  Speaker 3: to where it was in New Zealand. It never recovered
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  Speaker 3: post COVID and it should have and we're working with
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  Speaker 3: the government on how we can help do that. And
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  Speaker 3: I think what we're seeing is New Zealand is really
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  Speaker 3: you know giving Jetstar ago. We had the Prime Minister
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  Speaker 3: in himself li us last week, which is always exciting
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  Speaker 3: for us, you know, even business travel giving us a go.
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  Speaker 2: So what is the trick to surviving a startup operation
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  Speaker 2: and difficult times? What's Jetstar's trick?
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  Speaker 3: Oh look, we are just going to always be laser
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  Speaker 3: focused on how we can keep our fares low, which
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  Speaker 3: means keeping our costs low. So we we will always
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  Speaker 3: look for you know, making sure we've got cost control,
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  Speaker 3: making sure we're looking for new opportunities for growth that
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  Speaker 3: they're going to be a creative working with our airport partners,
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  Speaker 3: our tourism partners to help root economics to make sure
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  Speaker 3: we can justify the expansion that we've had. And we've
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  Speaker 3: had so much new routes, new operating out of Hamilton
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  Speaker 3: and Dunedan and all the things we've been doing over
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  Speaker 3: last year, which is super exciting for Kiwi's I think,
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  Speaker 3: and Frustratians visiting. So it's us working really hard to
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  Speaker 3: make sure those things are sustainable because we don't do
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  Speaker 3: them lightly. We understand for New Zealanders that we need
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  Speaker 3: to be there for the long run and that's really important.
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  Speaker 2: You need to be reliable. Absolutely. It's one year since
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  Speaker 2: you resumed international flights out of Dunedin and Hamilton and
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  Speaker 2: they seem to be going all right. And now unlike
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  Speaker 2: in New Zealand that's cutting routs. You've got new routes
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  Speaker 2: coming online over the next month in October Perth and Brisbane.
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  Speaker 2: So why are you expanding your operations to New Zealand.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we just see Australia's number New Zealand's
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  Speaker 3: sort of number one visitor place, right, so I think
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  Speaker 3: things like we launch, as you said, Queenstown Brisbane in
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  Speaker 3: a couple of weeks in Christchurch Perth a bit later.
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  Speaker 3: And what we've done with Hamilton and Duned and we've
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  Speaker 3: just been looking where are those flows and where does
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  Speaker 3: it make sense to add network. We, like all airlines,
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  Speaker 3: have had to manage through what's an elevated fuel price
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  Speaker 3: at the moment because of what's going on in the
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  Speaker 3: Middle East, but we've still made sure that we've just
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  Speaker 3: sustained that network and look for those pockets to flow
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  Speaker 3: from both sides of the Tasman so that you can
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  Speaker 3: open up opportunities. And Hamilton was really important because it's
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  Speaker 3: another way in. It's very close to Auckland, as you know,
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  Speaker 3: but it's a airport that worked with us really with
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  Speaker 3: open arms and really we're excited about returning to the
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  Speaker 3: international sort of flying arena and we worked really well
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  Speaker 3: together to create what we think is a great customer
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  Speaker 3: experience on the ground as well.
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  Speaker 2: And you're offering Asia these days as well, but for
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  Speaker 2: New Zealanders what that means is you have to fly
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  Speaker 2: to Brisbane and have a stopover and then carry on
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  Speaker 2: to Asia and other international destinations. Is this something that
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  Speaker 2: New Zealanders just going to have to get used to
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  Speaker 2: because this is the most effective way of doing it
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  Speaker 2: and the most efficient way of doing it.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think I think they'll still be point to
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  Speaker 3: point opportunities. But for us, who's you know, got a
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  Speaker 3: network that's really expanded out of Australia as well with
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  Speaker 3: you know, lots of Southeast Asia and North Asia flights
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  Speaker 3: from cams from Brisbane, from Melbourne and Sydney. That does
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  Speaker 3: give we are seeing increasingly in New Zealanders travel with
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  Speaker 3: that sort of one stop opportunity as well, and often
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  Speaker 3: that gets you into a more direct place, you know,
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  Speaker 3: from Australia b at the Philippines or Japan or whatever
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  Speaker 3: it is. It's it's a short stop to get there.
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  Speaker 3: But there will still be point to point. We do
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  Speaker 3: Raratonga direct from Auckland ourselves, and there will still be
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  Speaker 3: those opportunities. But you've got to for jet Star, you've
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  Speaker 3: got to look at where the primary network growths been
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  Speaker 3: and then connect into that seamlessly. It's still a good
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  Speaker 3: option for customers.
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  Speaker 2: Now you joined Quantus of the New Zealand CEOs on
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  Speaker 2: that trip to Brazil over the weekend, the International airline
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  Speaker 2: summits where in New Zealand announced that they've finally got
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  Speaker 2: over their engine difficulties, and everybody talked about what the
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  Speaker 2: industry is going to have to face going forward. So
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  Speaker 2: what did you take away from that summit? What are
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  Speaker 2: the big hurdles the industry will have to jump in
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  Speaker 2: over next year.
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  Speaker 3: I didn't actually go to Brazil. I decided to stay here,
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  Speaker 3: but I have spoken to some of my colleagues who
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  Speaker 3: have been, and I think there was a lot of
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  Speaker 3: discussion about, you know, the current elevated fuel price and
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  Speaker 3: how long we think that will be last, which I'm
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  Speaker 3: not sure anyone is an expert on. But also, you know,
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  Speaker 3: I think thinking about some of the other challenges in
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  Speaker 3: the industry, like sustainability and other things we've all been
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  Speaker 3: working on, you know, how does that work with the
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  Speaker 3: current crisis as well? So we've got to you know,
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  Speaker 3: I think there was lots of productive discussions from my
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  Speaker 3: colleagues that went.
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  Speaker 2: And the incredible thing for the airline industry is despite
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  Speaker 2: the headwinds and I mean the fuel price obviously, despite
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  Speaker 2: the headwinds, there seems to be a global appetite for travel.
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  Speaker 3: Oh and that's the most exciting thing about working in
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  Speaker 3: Allen's and we've seen I think post cod really a
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  Speaker 3: restructured appetite for leisure travel, particularly where I don't think
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  Speaker 3: anyone's ever going to take it for granted again, be
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  Speaker 3: it for holidays or to see family or you know,
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  Speaker 3: whatever the purpose might be. So that's what we're really
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  Speaker 3: keen to always tap into it, and we see it.
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  Speaker 3: You know, Australians and New Zealand Aers are naturally sort
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  Speaker 3: of you know, on the other side of the world
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  Speaker 3: from many things, so that that inherent. I think DNA
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  Speaker 3: and our spirit to wander and see the globe is
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  Speaker 3: more there, more than ever. So how do we make
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  Speaker 3: sure that we can be part of that? And I
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  Speaker 3: think whatever is happening economically or with the world, how
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  Speaker 3: do we still make sure that we're a place that
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  Speaker 3: kiwis want to go and see us as a really
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  Speaker 3: legitimate option to travel. And I think we've you know,
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  Speaker 3: we're cheaper, we're just as on time. So why wouldn't
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  Speaker 3: you give it a go?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Stephanie tell a CEO of just a happy birthday,
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  Speaker 2: enjoy it. You're still too young to You're still too
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  Speaker 2: young to do a YARDI you're still too young to
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  Speaker 2: do a yadi or a shuey exactly. Thank you for
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  Speaker 2: your time tonight.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, see you bye bye, see you all right. Take through.
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  Speaker 2: Oh she is such a breath of fresh air compared
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  Speaker 2: to listening to Nick Hill. I really enjoy your interview, Andrew,
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  Speaker 2: thank you so much. He is Stephanie Tully, CEO of
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  Speaker 2: Jet Style.
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