Air France-KLM CEO hunt signals industry strategy shift under Macron

The hunt for a new CE to lead Air France-KLM, a group hobbled by union resistance to cost-cutting at its French brand, is testing President Emmanuel Macron’s resolve for a lighter state touch on the economy. Macron’s government has told the Franco-Dutch airline group its very survival is at stake if it fails to become more competitive and undergo the painful reforms completed by carriers such as BA and Lufthansa as they battle low-cost airlines and Gulf carriers. In what would signal a subtle shift in French industrial strategy, two sources familiar with Macron’s thinking said the government is open to considering a non-French national as chairman of the group for the first time. This chairman would sit above one CE for Air France, who would almost certainly be a French national, and one for KLM, one of the sources said. It is just one option on the table. Macron’s office expects to receive a shortlist of candidates from the group’s interim management by the end of next week, a third source said.<br/>