If you’ve spent much time at Queenstown Airport, there’s a high probability you’ve crossed paths with Kathryn Jolly.
She began working at the airport nearly 15 years ago, starting at the Information Desk, and working her way up to Operations Duty Manager.
Back in those early days, Kathryn did a bit of everything: answering travellers’ questions, managing parking, and even taking payments from taxi drivers.
“I’ve always loved making a difference and talking to people all day.”
In an earlier life, Kathryn was a hairdresser. While the two roles might not seem to have much in common, she says both require great communication and problem-solving.
“The things I love the most is trying to find a solution that isn’t immediately there.”
That has been tested as she has moved into a new role focused on operational readiness, activation, and transition (ORAT), which will be critical as the airport’s significant capital works programme ramps up.
“I’m still working for ops, supporting collaboration across the entire airport community,” she says.
“As we move further into significant airport development, ensuring our customers and stakeholders are prepared for the evolving environment during both construction and delivery phases is critical to our success.”
Kathryn’s deep operational knowledge will be invaluable to understanding the impacts of new facilities and ways of working, anticipating challenges, developing concepts of operation, and implementing new processes and procedures to ensure a smooth and safe transition – all while maintaining the customer experience we strive for.
“It’s a challenging role and I’m really excited by the opportunity,” she says.
To support this work, QAC has partnered with ARUP to develop a robust ORAT framework.