Benjamin Smith (Canadian businessman)
Benjamin Smith | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 27 August 1971 |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Education | University of Western Ontario |
| Occupation | CEO of Air France–KLM |
Benjamin "Ben" Smith (born August 27, 1971) is a Canadian businessman and airline executive. He is presently CEO of Air France-KLM, a position that he has held since 2018. Prior to that, he was Air Canada’s President, Airlines and Chief Operating Officer.[1]
Personal and education
Benjamin Smith was born on August 27, 1971 in the UK, of a mother from Hong Kong and an Australian father.[2] He holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Western Ontario University.[3]
Aviation career
A life-long aviation enthusiast, he started out in 1990 as a customer sales and service agent at Air Ontario, a predecessor of Jazz and regional subsidiary of Air Canada Express, in parallel with his studies. In 1992, he created a retail corporate travel agency, which he operated for eight years.[3]
Air Canada
In 1999, he worked as a consultant for Air Canada before joining the group in 2002. As Managing Director of Tango, he was responsible for successfully getting the low-cost subsidiary created in 2001 off the ground, to reduce the operating costs of the main carrier.[4] He was successively Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Network Planning within the company.[5]
In 2007, Smith joined the Air Canada executive management team.[5] He was the chief negotiator with the airline’s pilot and flight attendant unions which resulted in landmark long-term agreements.
In 2013, he launched the low-cost company Air Canada Rouge. Smith is described as the “driver of Air Canada’s commercial strategy”[6] and contributed to the transformation of the airline, including the purchase of new wide-bodied and narrow-bodied airplanes and a global network expansion to more than 200 destinations on six continents.[6]
In 2014, he was appointed the airline’s president (Air Canada, Rouge, Express and Cargo) and chief operating officer of the Air Canada group.[5]
Under his management, Air Canada has been voted best air transporter in North America seven times at the World Airline Awards.[7]
Air France-KLM
The Air France–KLM board of directors, meeting on August 16, 2018, appointed Smith as the holding's new CEO.[1] He took up his new position on September 17, 2018.
Covid-19 bonus controversy
France and The Netherlands pledged a combined 10 billion tax-payers backed government support to Air France-KLM as the company took a hard hit during the Covid-19 pandemics in early 2020. Smith has received criticism for accepting an 800,000 euro bonus late May 2020 despite the situation. [1]
References
- ^ a b "Air France KLM names Air Canada executive Smith as CEO". Reuters.com. 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Qui est Benjamin Smith, le Canadien qui va piloter Air France-KLM?". ParisMatch.fr. 21 August 2018.
- ^ a b "Sitting Down With The New CEO Of Air France KLM, Ben Smith". Forbes.com. 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Air Canada Announces Departure of Benjamin Smith". TravelPulse. 15 August 2018.
- ^ a b c "Executive Profile: Benjamin Smith". Bloomberg.com.
- ^ a b "Air Canada's No. 2 executive, Ben Smith, to be named CEO of Air France-KLM". theglobeandmail.com.
- ^ "Air Canada named Best Airline in North America at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2018".