Benjamin Smith officially started his duty as the CEO of Air France-KLM group on September 17, 2018, as announced by acting President of Air France-KLM Anne-Marie Couderc. He was officially named by the company’s board of directors on August 16, 2018.
Air France was “headless” for four months after Jean-Marc Janaillac, the former CEO, resigned on May 4, 2018, following the refusal of a draft wage agreement by the unions. Benjamin Smith, former second-in-command of Air Canada, will be the first non-French to hold this office since the creation of the airline in 1933.
He should meet representatives of the CFE-CGC, CFDT and SNPL, the three main unions of the airline, on his first day. In order to prepare the ground for negotiations, he announced in an internal video that half of his fixed income (€ 900,000 per year) would be reinvested in the company. “I invest because I think we can win in our market and become number one, but also because I want to show you my commitment,” says Smith. His new salary, more than three times the one of Janaillac, had provoked intense reactions from the unions.
Air France unions have been asking for a 6% wage increase following a profitable year in 2017. Since the beginning of the year, fifteen days of strikes costed the company more than €300 million