Air France-KLM board of directors has unanimously approved the presentation of Benjamin Smith, CEO Air France-KLM, outlining his ambitions for the Group, principles of managerial governance, strategic decisions and processes to be made at Group level with the goal of simplifying and improving the governance of the Group in order to reach European airline leadership.
The main changes include the creation of a new Group CEO Committee to determine the strategic direction for all Group airlines and business units. This CEO committee will be chaired by Benjamin Smith. The other members of the committee include Pieter Elbers (CEO KLM), Anne Rigail (CEO Air France) and Frédéric Gagey (CFO Air France-KLM). The three of them will report directly to Benjamin Smith. The aim of this new structure is to increase collaboration across the Group to better capture synergies, efficiencies and economies of scale, with the aim of improving overall Group profitability, says the airline group.
The group will also simplify key operational processes into: fleet and network strategy, commercial and alliances strategy, human resources, purchasing, digital and data management.
The Board of Air France-KLM concurs with the Supervisory Board of KLM and proposes the renewal of Pieter Elbers as CEO of KLM during the KLM Annual General Meeting in April.
Both Anne Rigail and Pieter Elbers are also appointed Air France-KLM Deputy CEOs and have expressed their commitment to build the Group’s success alongside Benjamin Smith.
The Air France-KLM Board of Directors acknowledges the entry of Benjamin Smith to the Supervisory Board of KLM at their next AGM.
Cees’t Hart will become a member of the Air France-KLM Board of Directors at the Group’s next AGM, replacing Hans Smits.
“We are convinced that Benjamin Smith and his team, with the renewal of Pieter Elbers, will drive further growth at Air France-KLM, leveraging the combined strength and experience provided by the Group and its airlines.” said Anne-Marie Couderc, Chair of the Air France-KLM Board. “The Board of Directors welcomes this new management structure adopted today, that will help the Group, under the clear leadership of Benjamin, achieve industry leadership and success”