Ben SMITH (AC’s number two) to join Air France KLM group

[AF jockey]

Good morning everybody. As a pilot for Air France I am interested in your views on the newly appointed director for the AF/KLM holding. What is his psychological profile ? He looks pretty sleek and gentle. Does he have the guts and perspective to maybe take down lazy directors and shake a system ?

Very eager to to read all your opinion on him.

[fuelsurvey]

I had him in my Jumpseat once. Very nice guy . He came across as very intelligent and seemed to genuinely care about the employees.

[AF jockey]

Oh that's good news. Are you happy with the way he's been conducting operations ? Do you feel operations have improved during his tenure ?

[Me Myself]

AF Jockey.....I would agree that the first feed backs .....however scarce, seem to paint a positive picture.......however, rumours has it that he was appointed with the promise not to shake the tree .....I mean....the management tree.
So, blowing 3 mill a year in this case looks like a waste of money to me.
Janaillac genuinely cared for his employees and was scuttled by the very management who by the way, was spineless enough not to put their jobs on the line when the referendum was organized......and lost.
Not matter how nice and willing Mr Smit is.....they will just swamp him.

[cane003]

Hi everyone,

What opinions AC insiders have on this Mr Smith?

How was his work perceived by employees? Management ? Unions?

Has AC really soared during his mandate? How about Rouge lauch? Was it really his idea? Is this working effectively ? Has he implemented long term strategy?

Mr Smith is introduced by AF as the new messiah CEO, succeeding in every aspect during his 20 years career at AC.
Good point for him, he will not be seen as a french-goverment emissary. And he has experience on the business.

But will this be enough to calm down the war between management and unions inside AF ?

I just would like to believe he could...

Thanks for your feedbacks!

[AF jockey]

AF Jockey.....I would agree that the first feed backs .....however scarce, seem to paint a positive picture.......however, rumours has it that he was appointed with the promise not to shake the tree .....I mean....the management tree.
So, blowing 3 mill a year in this case looks like a waste of money to me.
Janaillac genuinely cared for his employees and was scuttled by the very management who by the way, was spineless enough not to put their jobs on the line when the referendum was organized......and lost.
Not matter how nice and willing Mr Smit is.....they will just swamp him.








Thanks for the Feedback me myself... The scariest point I see in your comment relates to the fact there will be no shake out in the management layers. That is THE most concerning snag as this is THE one thing we desperately need. All our problems stem from the hordes of number crunchers/PowerPoint show-offs/gutless decision makers (tick off as appropriate). Many (not all) are just a waste of time and money. We need someone who will scrutinize the system and then come to the conclusion we need a change in DNA, hence a leaner yet more efficient management population. And a leader who will stomp loud for lower taxes !!! Those French taxes are slowly bleeding our company to its own death.

Where did you pull that information out of ? From which side of the Atlantic ? If it proves to be true then we’re doomed...

Are you an AC employee yourself ?

[altiplano]

What's good for the airline/corporation isn't necessarily the best for the Pilots.

This guy did a good job for the airline and investors, and a strong airline is good for the pilots ... but in my opinion he extracted extensive concessions from the pilots in particular, he had sewed massive division and the pilots are being leveraged by it. Concession after concession during times of record profitability.

The worst part of it is that some AC pilots actually LIKE it... they drank the Kool-aid, or didn't pay attention, and the apathy ran deep.
And while some may think they are better off in the short term at Rouge, they have certainly given up most of the airline to get it... shell of a contract is all that's left...

I can't wait to see a real Pilots' Union take this @$$hole to school. Don't buy the BS!

[Me Myself]

Altiplano

You can expect the AF unions will give him a taste of it should he not adress the salary question.
It is rumoured he understands french......which basically means he doesn’t speak it and this is likely to upset a lot of people and make his day at the office very difficult as well as hilarious given how most of the board members master english.
You can only really understand people, how they tick and all, unless you speak their language, especially in a country like France.
I know, the whole world should be speaking english and all would be wonderful.
Ain’t the case....live with it.

Second....his salary, triple as much as JM Janaillac is not likely to win him votes should he tell to the people they have to tighten their belt.
On top of which comes the self appointed chairwoman AM Couderc who was sooooo good at her previous job, Prestalis, that she is saddled with a very damaging parliamentary report for having squandered what is basically public money.
For this amazing achievement and for not having to do a thing (probably best given her previous record ) she gets a whopping 1,2 million euro.
Until now, this amount hasn’t been denied by either the board or Mrs Couderc.
Walks like a duck......etc...

What this self appointmennt means is that Ben Smith will be closely monitored by the french government. Mrs Couderc is a profesional politician who held various ministerial portfolios....... not that anyone remembers which....
What is at stake here is the privatization of ADP, Air France being the government cash cow through the outrageous fees the company pays.
Mr Smith will be kindly asked not to rock the boat in that department.

AF Jockey.....wether Ben Smith comes alone or not will certainly make a difference.....and I bet you those who waxed JM Janaillac board thinking good riddance.....must feel shaky shaky right now.
You can’t expect those who were at the root of this amazing blunder, to pretend being part of the solution.
One thing is sure....the staff won’t have it.


Very interesting times ahead, for sure.

[altiplano]

I'm pretty certain he speaks French... not a native speaker, but still... AC is a bilingual airline, he's coming out of Montreal.

Anyway, he'll be selling a new relationship to the pilots, one of growth and upgrades and shiny beads, but he'll want something to achieve it... probably more concessions and growth at your LCC. A true B-scale wawcon. I wouldn't buy it... Best of luck.

[admiral ackbar]

Quebec business circles are still very North American and understanding Quebec French will not help in navigating and understanding French politics and French workplaces, especially the proximity of government and business which is unheard of over here. I am French Canadian and it took me a long time to adjust to French society, i lived in Paris for 10 years. I wish him luck but don't see the fit.

[Me Myself]

Well well......the end of last week and the beginning of this one are bringing their shares of news.....and I would venture calling them good news.
2of the 2 most damaging clowns in the way the airline was run.....have been given their marching papers in a typical old fashion soviet style.....praising them for their valuable......and no more indispensable service to the airline.
Next thing will be their pictures will erased and they will no doubts be forgotten.
This means I was very wrong in my previous posts in saying Ben Smith would not shake the tree.
He did and most likely, this is not finished.
OK....not very turning the left cheek kind of thing to rejoice about these poor fellows demise, but when one thinks about the mess they started and kept at, one can only rejoice.
Trust me, seen from our perspective, this is a hell of a good start and I wish, hope, this is the final breakaway from this poisonous french bureaucratic mediocrity where precisely, mediocrity, as long it keeps its mouth shut, gets rewarded.

Ben Smith is meeting the unions today and we’ll see what he has to sell, but sacking these 2 losers certainly sends the message that times are changing.
Sends to the unions but also down below, especially those in charge of the network who make a padded cell look like of a fountain of health by comparison.

[Me Myself]

The corporate blade seems to be swinging big time. First the GM gets sacked.....sorry.....praised for a valuable contribution during his 36 years career with AF.......etc....lots of BS......even more BS and etc,s ........
Then, barely a week end to catch one’s breath and the head of HR gets his marching paper without even letting the ink dry before he starts marching without the praising BS summing up his valuable contribution to the awful mess he built.
In fact, rumor has it he was asked to kindly resign......and refused which in turn led him to feel Ben’s boot in the seat of his pants.
Then......Aznavour dies........getting side tracked on this one.

In all honesty, these 2 just deserve it. They are the duo who totally poisoned the pond and waxed Janaillac ‘s board during the negotiation earlier this year.
Bewildering to see how stupid they were, believing this one would not come back to bite them in the back side.
Good riddance. Better to start with a clean slate.

[JayMatlock]

I'm pretty certain he speaks French... not a native speaker, but still... AC is a bilingual airline, he's coming out of Montreal.

Anyway, he'll be selling a new relationship to the pilots, one of growth and upgrades and shiny beads, but he'll want something to achieve it... probably more concessions and growth at your LCC. A true B-scale wawcon. I wouldn't buy it... Best of luck.
This is massively worrying.
Does anyone have any more info on that subject ?
How could he implement a B-scale and what would the unions get in exchange ?

[Mostly Harmless]

https://youtu.be/nmJKY59NX8o