It sure is an exciting time for Air France. In August it was announced that Ben Smith would be appointed CEO of Air France-KLM (this is different than being the CEO of Air France or KLM — he’s the CEO of the parent company, which is one of the “big three” airline conglomerates in Europe). He was formerly the President and COO at Air Canada.
Ben Smith is probably the guy in the airline industry who I respect more than anyone else. Not only is he a huge airline geek, but he’s one of the few airline executives who gets the balance right between spreadsheets and passenger experience.
Air France has had a rough several years, as they’ve had endless labor issues. One of the things that Ben was most known for at Air Canada is how well he did negotiating contracts with unions, and the hope was that he’d do the same at Air France (they’re off to a good start already).
Earlier this year the Air France-KLM CEO resigned, while this fall the Air France CEO resigned, meaning that Air France has been without a permanent CEO. In addition to being the CEO of Air France-KLM, Ben Smith has been the acting CEO of Air France as until the end of the year, until they found someone to fill the position. A permanent replacement for that role has now been announced.
Per the proposal of Ben Smith and the approval of the Air France-KLM board of directors, Anne Rigail has been appointed the new CEO of Air France as of December 17, 2018.
Not only is she the first female CEO of Air France, but she’s the first female CEO of a major global airline.
I love the fact that she has worked in the airline industry almost her entire career, as she has worked her way through the ranks at Air France for over two decades:
- In 1996 she was appointed head of Air France customer service at Paris-ORY
- In 1999 she became director of passenger and baggage connections at Paris-CDG
- In 2005 she was appointed head of the Paris-CDG operations control center
- In 2009 she became VP ground operations at Paris-CDG
- In 2013 she became EVP inflight service for the entire airline
- In 2017 she became EVP customer for the entire airline
The chairwoman of the Air France-KLM board of directors had the following to say:
“I would like to thank Benjamin Smith for the outstanding work he has accomplished during his time as acting CEO Air France. Under his leadership, our airline has rapidly taken decisive steps, renewing constructive social dialogue, and proposing a new executive governance structure as seen with the arrival of Anne Rigail. I wish Anne every success in her new position, for the benefit of both Air France and the Air France-KLM Group. I am very pleased that she has accepted this very exciting new challenge.”
Ben Smith had the following to say:
“I am delighted that Anne Rigail is to become the new CEO of Air France. Anne is a strong professional in the airline industry. Throughout her career, she has always paid particular attention to employees while implementing the many projects and transformations she has led, and placed the customer at the heart of everything she does. With the support and commitment of every single employee, I am confident we can rise to the challenges for Air France today, ensuring service excellence to all our customers. I have complete faith that Anne will succeed in transforming Air France. Together with Pieter Elbers, President and CEO of KLM, the Air France-KLM Group is taking an important step in its reorganisation to reconquer its market position.”
What an incredible career she has had, and I wish her all the best in this new role. Between her and Ben, I have no doubt that Air France is in the best hands it has been in in a very long time.
I also love the diversity here. Ben is the first non-French CEO of Air France-KLM, and she’s the first female CEO of Air France.
Air France lost all four of our luggages in August (4 months ago) on the way to Mykonos. After 3 days without update and can't get any helpful response from any customer rep, my partner messaged Ann Rigail directly, she was the executive VP of customer at the time. Within 3 hours she had someone calling us and let us know he will be responsible to help us relocate our luggages, and in another 3...
Air France lost all four of our luggages in August (4 months ago) on the way to Mykonos. After 3 days without update and can't get any helpful response from any customer rep, my partner messaged Ann Rigail directly, she was the executive VP of customer at the time. Within 3 hours she had someone calling us and let us know he will be responsible to help us relocate our luggages, and in another 3 hours our luggages were found still in the states , and they managed to fly them out delivered to our hotel in Mykonos within 12 hours. I was impressed with her response and handle of the situation. She's a very capable person. Congratulation to her, and hope she turns Air France around and improve its overall operations.
*to have
Good to have not a name and face to put with the terrible experiences with AF at both CDG&ORY. Good luck!
Appreciate the article, interesting bit, Lucky, thank you!
At least the angry french workers won't chase her down and rip off her clothes like they did with the predecessor
Thanks @Vijay, I was trying to place her.
@lucky Just curious do you have a personal relationship with Ben Smith. You seem to speak about him as if you know him.
Too many people missing Carolyn McCall who was CEO at easyJet. While easyJet may not be a global airline, it is still a large one looking at passengers carried.
So good to see someone who has a wide range of experience that will allow her to have a broad view of the airline. So many CEOs nowadays come straight out of the finance side and seem to not understand the "softer" side of things that are the key to customer goodwill.
By the way if you are impressed with Benjamin Smith and the career path of new AF CEO, check the career path of KLM CEO. He is probably one of the most loved CEOs out there.
To add to diversity, Ben Smith is also openly gay. This change a bit, little by little :-)
Hope Ms Rigail succeeds in her task, AF has a huge potential.
I hope next is American Airlines! Can't wait for the day when Dougie got fired!