Whilst many across the travel industry were quick to congratulate Nikhil Ravishankar on his promotion to CEO of Air New Zealand, several news outlets in New Zealand were forced to limit comments on their coverage due to racist abuse.
On Facebook, the New Zealand Herald, the country’s largest news website, disabled comments on its post about the appointment.
In a comment on Facebook, the Herald wrote: “Kia ora, we have disabled the post due to racist comments. We appreciate the high level of interest in this story but cannot safely moderate it at this time.”
The platform’s community guidelines state its commitment to “foster a safe online community by reducing instances of hate, racism, abuse and misinformation”.
The Herald was not alone. Radio New Zealand and TVNZ’s 1News also restricted comments on their social media posts following the announcement.
Ravishankar was born in India and raised in New Zealand. He studied Computer Science, Management Science, and Information Systems at the University of Auckland.
Before joining Air New Zealand, he served as Chief Digital Officer at Vector and as Managing Director at Accenture.
“I’m both thrilled and humbled to be given this opportunity to lead Air New Zealand,” Ravishankar said. “This airline is an institution with a deep legacy but also a fantastic future. It’s a privilege to step into the CEO role and take on that responsibility for our people, our customers, and our country.”
Currently serving as the airline’s chief digital officer, Ravishankar will officially assume the role of CEO on 20 October 2025, taking the place Greg Foran who steps down in October after almost six years leading the airline through one of the most challenging periods in aviation history.
On LinkedIn, many were quick to call out the abuse. Simran Kaur, Founder at Friends that Invest (an educational investment platform for women) and Young New Zealander of the year highlighted the importance of ethnic diversity in leadership: “Huge congratulations to Air NZ, I hope this encourages more ethnic-minority kiwis to lean into leadership. After all, you cannot be what you cannot see.”
Air New Zealand declined to comment.
