New Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith Begins Putting His Imprint on Air France
Photo Credit: Ben Smith, Air France-KLM CEO, is working to fix the French side of his company. Air France-KLM
Skift Take
Insiders sometimes privately ask if Ben Smith will be a short-timer at Air France-KLM. He is trying to bring big change to a company plagued by inertia. But change is happening. Let's see if Smith will have traction.
After Ben Smith became CEO of Air France-KLM last year, he looked at Air France's Africa network, one of the company's jewels. France no longer rules much of the continent, but Air France retains air rights other airlines covet.
Smith didn't like what he saw. In his previous job, as chief operating officer of Air Canada, he preferred simplicity and consistency, and Air France's network is, well, complicated. Many routes operate less than daily, and some go in a circle, like AF 775, which twice weekly departs Paris for Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, before stopping in Yaoundé, capital of Cameroon, and sitting for about four hours before returning home.
Sometimes there are reasons for odd routings, like security concerns, but worldwide, Smith said, the airline's operation is more complex than it needs to be, a reason the carrier underperforms its peers on many financial metrics.
"You go look at the Air France African network and you just go, 'What is this?'" S
