Anne Rigail Appointed CEO of Air France

“The Air France-KLM Group is taking an important step in its reorganisation to reconquer its market position.” – Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith 

The Air France Board of Directors has appointed Anne Rigail as CEO of Air France, following their meeting on December 12 and subsequent to the proposal of Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith and the approval of the Air France-KLM Board of Directors.

Previously EVP Customer at Air France, Anne Rigail will assume her new role as CEO Air France on December 17, 2018, and will replace Benjamin Smith, who was appointed acting CEO of Air France through the end of 2018.

Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith

“I have complete faith that Anne will succeed in transforming Air France. Together with Pieter Elbers, President and CEO of KLM, the Air France-KLM Group is taking an important step in its reorganisation to reconquer its market position,” Smith said, underlining that Anne is a strong professional in the airline industry.

“Throughout her career, she has always paid particular attention to employees while implementing the many projects and transformations she has led, and placed the customer at the heart of everything she does,” he said.

Born on March 8, 1969, Anne Rigail is a graduate of the Mines Paris Tech university. She joined Air Inter in 1991 and five years later she was appointed head of Air France Customer Services at Paris-Orly. In 1999, she became Director of Passenger and Baggage Connections at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub, and subsequently head of Customer and Baggage Products for Ground Operations. In 2005, she was appointed head of the Paris-CDG Hub Operations Control Centre. She became VP Ground Operations at Paris-Charles de Gaulle in 2009. In 2013 she became EVP In-flight Services, in charge of Cabin Crew and in 2017 was appointed EVP Customer.

“With the support and commitment of every single employee, I am confident we can rise to the challenges for Air France today, ensuring service excellence to all our customers,” Smith added.