Russell Williss, NZ country manager for Hawaiian Airlines, which started flying here 10 years ago. Photo / Dean Purcell
Hawaiian Airlines’ New Zealand boss Russell Williss is a man of many labels.
He’s once been described by his manager as a “one-man army” and by a one-time fierce rival as being by far “the most successful international airline manager in the local market”.
A Hawaii tourism influencer gave him the tag “Captain Aloha”. To be clear - he doesn’t fly planes.
He confesses that he’s also been called a “blowfly”.
To most, he’s simply Rusty.
Hawaiian Airlines (HA) will in March mark 10 years of flying here - with a pandemic-enforced break - and Williss has been at the helm for the decade.
On the blowfly reference, he indicates that’s because people reckon he’s everywhere - inevitable in a near 40-year career in airlines for the extroverted Aussie who arrived in Auckland in the mid-90s.
Since then he has always worked at airlines challenging the national carrier. That means getting out and about around town to make his presence felt.
And he stresses it’s not so much a “one-man army”, rather it’s a small, high-energy team. During an interview in his Auckland office he proudly points to sales and airline awards on display won by colleagues Nicholas Dew and Lindsey O’Neil.
He reckons the best way to describe him is lucky.
“I count my blessings every day now that I’m still lucky enough to be privileged to do what I do,” says the 61-year-old.
It could have been a much different career path for Williss.
Born in Glenelg, Adelaide, he was the second-youngest in his family of two brothers and three sisters and followed his father (who ran a gang of plasterers) into the trades. Williss completed a plumbing apprenticeship but as soon as he’d finished that, soon after turning 21, he hit the road.
“I departed Adelaide the day after my 21st birthday party, which probably wasn’t the most well-planned thing to do and was very poorly executed. I think I drove about a mile and then had to pull over for a lie-down.”
With his girlfriend at the time, he towed a caravan behind an ex-Australian police force V8 Chrysler Valiant around about three-quarters of the country. It was an “internal OE” and an early sign of the appetite for travel that’s never left him.
The couple ended up in the Northern Territory, and he worked on a buffalo ranch near Jabiru, in Kakadu National Park.
“It was almost like being the Paul Hogan [the star of Crocodile Dundee] of the plumbing world, which was a bit bizarre. I was out there for six months doing a complete refurb of that abattoir, which processed buffalo meat for Southeast Asia,” he says.
“It was very remote and I was lucky to get out of there alive, with a couple of incidents - not just crocodiles but rogue buffaloes.”
He got involved in an Aussie Rules club in Darwin where one day a mate asked if he’d be interested in loading bags on to TAA (Trans Australia Airlines) Boeing 727s, DC9s and Fokker F50s.
In 1982 he got the job, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Williss worked as cargo manager in Darwin for TAA, which became Australian Airlines in 1986. Three years later Australia’s aviation sector was paralysed by a pilots’ strike that stretched for months and gave him a first-hand look at how hard the industry can be hit by a crisis and what it does to respond.
Military planes and overseas charter planes were brought in to plug some of the gaps.
“It was shambolic - it basically shut down the entire aviation industry in Australia.”
TAA became Australian Airlines and then was absorbed into Qantas in what wasn’t always a happy marriage.
“It was a divisive merger, almost like an internal civil war you had the blue coats and the red coats.”
In the early 1990s he had a short stint heading airport operations for Malaysian Airlines which then operated DC10s between Adelaide, Darwin and Kuala Lumpur.
It was then back to Qantas where he headed commercial sales in the Northern Territory, including the crucial government and military contracts. In 1995 the self-described “brash young Aussie” was offered a job for the airline in Auckland. Having a Kiwi girfriend then sealed the deal, and he’s been here since.
“Walking down Queen St in a suit on day one after working in the Northern Territory in a tropical environment for most of my Qantas career I had to make quite a transition. I remember thinking ‘what have I done’,” he says.
It was the start of a strong rivalry with Air New Zealand.
“Not being the national carrier ... that tends to make you being a little bit more nimble and hungry and you end up having to work harder for the business as well.”
Including the Darwin days, he spent more than two decades with Qantas but took redundancy, and with generous staff air travel benefits travelled the world.
“I had a fantastic career with Qantas for over 20 years - a great airline,” he says.
“I’m really passionate about what I do and the company I work for. And I think that was instilled to me at Qantas - sometimes I was possibly too passionate, but I think I’ve learned to temper that as I get a little bit older and wiser.”
While travelling he got a call with an offer that was too good to turn down: be the Auckland-based leader for Hawaiian Airlines’ entry into the New Zealand market, initially with general sales agent Walshe Group in the build-up to the March, 2013 start, and then as country manager for Hawaiian itself from 2015.
Soon after joining Walshe, Williss made his first trip to the HA headquarters at Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Honolulu and again learned that wearing a suit can be uncomfortable.
“I remember my first day when I walked into head office and my boss at that time said: ‘What on earth are you wearing?’ I said ‘It’s a suit’ and he says ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t do that - come with me’,” says Williss.
“So we get in his car and drive to the Rix shirt shop and I got my first Aloha shirt.”
That wardrobe switch turned into something more.
Williss’ Aloha shirt collection peaked at 157. He’s trimmed it back a bit by donating dozens to Auckland charity shops, but the numbers are climbing again. He loves the stories the shirts tell about the history of Hawaii (where he’s been around 70 times) and the way they’re the accepted airline wardrobe, right up to the chief executive.
Hawaiian started in New Zealand after seeing a gap in the market here as the likes of Auckland Airport and tourism authorities were pitching for new players.
“Hawaiian made sense given that at that stage it was connecting to 13 US mainland cities (now 15) through Honolulu.”
Air New Zealand was running a Boeing 767 just twice a week, and with constrained capacity, prices were high.
“That landscape of course changed significantly with our entry into [the] market,” says Williss.
Competition was intense as Hawaiian and Air New Zealand competed wingtip to wingtip. At one point a travel agent deal cut prices to a “crazy” $399 return.
“We’ve had some real tussles and battles over the years. Some of them were quite bloody. But they’re a formidable and respected competitor,” says Williss.
“And even at the bloodiest of the battles there was still some friendly banter with some of the former senior executives.”
Hawaiian flew up to five times a week. It’s back at three times a week which Williss says may be there for the foreseeable future.
Like other airlines, it is now facing constraints at Auckland Airport, especially with ground handling, but because of its late evening arrivals and departures avoids the worst of it.
Williss seems to have one of the most comprehensive speed dial lists around, from All Blacks to entertainment celebrities to diplomats.
Those contacts are important but he says the work relationships more often than not develop into friendships.
He’s never off his phone for long, for socialising or work, once selling tickets to Hawaii while recovering in hospital from a white-tail spider bite.
The father of one son (Harry) is keen on horse racing, with an ownership stake in horses both sides of the Tasman and has been an enthusiastic participant of Auckland Thoroughbred Racing, support he says has opened doors around the country.
But equally important is getting behind grassroots community projects.
He didn’t hesitate when he was approached by Raj Cotter, then a Hastings youth aid cop, to help get 10 boys from Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne to Hawaii in 2018 to develop life skills. A similar cultural exchange programme for young wāhine is being targeted for May 2023.
Under his watch here, the airline has also supported an exchange programme for cleaning up the ocean and waterways.
Hayden Smith heads ocean clean-up trust Sea Cleaners, and was introduced to Williss by Darragh Walsh of Hawaii Tourism, who was instrumental in developing a strong partnership.
Williss saw an immediate role for the airline - helping get groups of young people to Hawaii for educational and cultural trips - and cleaning up beaches.
Smith says: “Rusty’s got a real interest in helping - he saw it straight away. He’s been an incredible help for what we do.”
Williss says Hawaiian is a unique airline with its Team Kokua programme getting deeply involved in the communities it serves.
He says he’s made plenty of mistakes in life and business but this airline “is making me a better human”.
Former Air New Zealand revenue boss Cam Wallace competed fiercely with Williss on the Honolulu route and rates him highly.
“Rusty is by a significant margin the most successful international airline manager in the local market,” says Wallace, who is now chief executive at MediaWorks.
He describes Williss as an energetic and passionate advocate for Hawaii, the outer islands, and Hawaiian Airlines.
“Rusty’s intimate knowledge of the market and the trade has made him a formidable competitor - and he’s a top bloke too.”
One route had three times the average rate of cancellations.