Benjamin Smith (born August 27, 1971) is a Canadian businessman and airline executive. He has been the CEO of

Air France-KLM The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

since 2018. Prior to that, he was

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled an ...

's President, Airlines and Chief Operating Officer.

Personal and education

Benjamin Smith was born on August 27, 1971 in the UK, to a mother from Hong Kong and an Australian father. He holds a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in economics from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...

Aviation career

A life-long aviation enthusiast, he began his career in 1990 as a unionised ground Customer Sales and Service Agent at

Air Ontario Air Ontario Inc. was a regional Canadian airline headquartered in Sarnia then London, Ontario. In 2002, Air Ontario became Air Canada Jazz. History Great Lakes Airlines was formed in 1958, becoming Air Ontario Ltd. in 1983 and Air Ontario Inc ...

, a predecessor of

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and regional subsidiary of Air Canada Express, in parallel with his studies. In 1992, he left the airline to create a retail corporate travel agency, which he operated for eight years.

Air Canada

In 1999, he worked as a consultant for

before joining the airline. As Managing Director of

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

, he was responsible for writing the business plan and successfully launching the low-cost subsidiary in 2001, with the goal of reducing operating costs and experimenting with a new business model for the mainline carrier. Tango was the world's first legacy-airline creation to successfully demonstrate the viability and feasibility of branded fares and fare debundling (dissociation of individual products and services from the base fare, such as seat selection, checked baggage, and mileage accrual, which are subsequently sold as ancillaries). Following the absorption of Tango into mainline Air Canada, Smith was appointed Vice President, Network Planning, within the company. In 2007, Smith joined the Air Canada executive management team as Chief Commercial Officer, responsible for Network Planning, Revenue Management, Marketing (including brand management, customer experience, and loyalty), Cargo, Alliances, and Global Sales. He is described as the "driver of Air Canada's commercial strategy" leading to the development of three hubs in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. He contributed to the transformation of the airline, including the purchase of new wide-body and narrow-body aircraft, as well as the first flagship North American order of the Airbus A220 (previously known as the Bombardier C-Series). Overall, he led a global network expansion resulting in links to more than 200 destinations on six continents, with a fleet of 350 aircraft. In 2013, he launched the low-cost company

Air Canada Rouge Air Canada Rouge, ''Rouge'' meaning "red" in French, is a subsidiary of Air Canada. It is fully integrated into the Air Canada mainline and Air Canada Express networks; flights are sold with AC flight numbers but are listed as "operated by Air ...

. In 2014, he was the chief negotiator with the airline's pilot and cabin crew unions which resulted in landmark 10-year collective agreements. In the same year, he was appointed President, Airlines (

Rouge Rouge is the French word for "red" and may refer to: Compounds * Rouge (cosmetics), a cosmetic used to color the cheeks and emphasize the cheekbones * Jeweler's rouge or iron(III) oxide * Rouging, a form of corrosion applicable to stainless ...

, Express and

Cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

) and Chief Operating Officer of Air Canada.

Air France-KLM

The

Air France–KLM Air France–KLM S.A., also known as Air France–KLM Group, is a Franco-Dutch airline holding company incorporated under French law with its headquarters at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Tremblay-en-France, near Paris. The group has offices in ...

Group Board of Directors appointed Smith as the new Group's CEO on August 16, 2018, the first non-French chief executive in the company's history. He assumed this role on September 17, 2018. In 2019, under Smith's direction that Air France announced the exit of the Airbus A380 at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, to be replaced by 38 Airbus A350 aircraft. He also oversaw the renewal of the narrowbody fleet with more environmentally friendly aircraft, with an order of 60 Airbus A220 aircraft to replace aging Airbus A318s and A319s. In 2020, Smith announced the domestic deployment of

Transavia France Transavia Airlines S.A.S., trading as Transavia France and formerly branded as ''transavia.com France'', is a French low-cost airline owned by Air France S.A. & Transavia Airlines C.V. based at Paris-Orly Airport. It shares its corporate desig ...

, previously limited to operating intra-European flights, following an agreement with the French pilot union permitting unrestricted growth of the fleet.

References

External links

*
Profile at Air France-KLM website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Benjamin 1971 births Living people Canadian airline chief executives University of Western Ontario alumni Air France–KLM Canadian expatriates in France British emigrants to Canada British people of Hong Kong descent British people of Australian descent Canadian people of Hong Kong descent Canadian people of Australian descent