Benjamin Smith

The Air France–KLM board of directors, meeting on August 16, 2018, appointed Smith as the holding's new CEO. He took up his new position on September 17, 2018.

In 2014, he was appointed the airline’s president (Air Canada, Rouge, Express and Cargo) and chief operating officer of the Air Canada group.

In 2013, he launched the low-cost company Air Canada Rouge. Smith is described as the “driver of Air Canada’s commercial strategy” 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.

In 2007, Smith joined the Air Canada executive management team. He was the chief negotiator with the airline’s pilot and flight attendant unions which resulted in landmark long-term agreements.

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. He was successively Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Network Planning within the company.

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.

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.

Benjamin Smith was born on August 27, 1971 in the UK, of a mother from Hong Kong and an Australian father. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Western Ontario University.