Westpac executive out after free ride

June McCabe

A Westpac executive who used one of the bank's free corporate flights with the Auckland rescue helicopter as a birthday treat for her son has quit her job.

June McCabe was the director of corporate affairs at Westpac when she used one of the bank's five free corporate flights to treat her 6-year-old and his friends.

Ms McCabe, who was appointed a trustee on the foundation set up to raise $7 million for a new rescue helicopter, has resigned from that post too.

The Weekend Herald revealed last month that the 10-minute birthday flight came from an allocation of flights given to the bank under its sponsorship contract with the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust.

Ms McCabe, who had overall responsibility for the helicopter sponsorship deal, said she used a flight allocated for public relations activity "to give my son a treat" last October.

Westpac bank spokesman Mark Watts said she had taken a period of leave since details of the flight became public.

Ms McCabe had "made a great contribution to Westpac", he said. He would not comment on whether the flight had any bearing on her going.

Ms McCabe is also a TVNZ board member and co-author of the book Woman2Woman, which tells the stories of successful New Zealand businesswomen.