Air France-KLM to test Macron’s appetite for reform

In his letter to the pilots’ union that had just forced his resignation, Jean-Marc Janaillac, CE of the Air France-KLM group, was fiery and defiant. He denounced the union’s allegations that the French state, which holds 14% of Air France-KLM, ran the company, calling it “a ridiculous and insulting vision”. He said it was the union’s obstruction that had “led us to today’s impasse, and this mess that we all regret”. However, it is no longer a mess that Janaillac will have to clear up: he leaves on Tuesday, having quit after staff rejected his pay proposal. Instead, given the size of the French government’s stake, it is a mess that will find its way on to the desk of President Emmanuel Macron. How Mr Macron handles the Air France-KLM situation will be an important test of his resolve and political direction in a dispute that has cost the company more than E300m, with each day of protest adding another E25m. “It is the incarnation of the French malaise which Macron is seeking to address in several — if not all — sectors,” said Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, an aviation consultant and former secretary-general of the Association of European Airlines. With the French state’s outsized influence on the board thanks to its 23 per cent voting rights, the reform-minded president will be influential on two key decisions: who to support as the new CE and whether to keep open a possible bail out of the company. Both decisions represent a potentially defining moment for the French leader. The board meets to decide on the new chief executive this week. Story has more details about the current situation.<br/>