French unions angry over Air France-KLM’s new CEO from Air Canada

Benjamin Smith, Air
France-KLM incoming CEO.
REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

• Air France-KLM‘s board of
  directors has appointed Benjamin Smith as its new CEO.
• Prior to his appointment to the top job at Air
  France-KLM, Smith served as the President and COO of Air
  Canada.
• Major French trade union issued a joint statement
  condemning the appointment.

The major trade unions representing Air France KLM staff issued a
joint statement on Thursday to protest the appointment of Air
Canada President and COO Benjamin Smith as Air France-KLM’s new
chief executive.

“Concerning the choice of new chief executive…the trade unions
would like to state that it’s inconceivable that the company Air
France – which has been French since 1933 – would fall into the
hands of a foreign director,” the unions said in the statement.

Air France-KLM’s board met on Aug. 16 to approve Smith’s
nomination as the company’s next CEO.

“The arrival of Benjamin Smith is excellent news for the
Group,” Air France-KLM non-executive chairman Anne-Marie
Couderc said in a statement. “Benjamin is a world-renowned leader
in the airline sector who successfully transformed Air
Canada.”

An
Air France Airbus A380.

Flickr/Maarten
Visser

Smith’s appointment fills a major management void after former
CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac quit in May when staff rejected his offer
of a pay deal aimed at ending a wave of strikes that have so far
cost the company 335 million euros ($381 million).

Known to speak French, Smith has a track record in dealing with
unions and was the main negotiator in talks with pilot and cabin
crew staff at Air Canada that resulted in a 10-year agreement in
2015.

The French state has a 14 percent stake in Air France-KLM, while
Delta Airlines and China Eastern Airlines each hold 8.8 percent.

Government officials say President Emmanuel Macron is open to a
non-French national leading the group for the first time.

Smith is expected to take up his new position no later
than September 30.