Air Canada seen turning to ‘bench strength’ after COO poached

Air Canada has a succession gap now that its No. 2 executive is leaving to run Europe’s largest airline. But the Canadian carrier has a deep management bench that will minimise disruption, say Cowen & Co. and RBC Capital Markets. COO Ben Smith will leave Air Canada Aug. 31 to take charge at Air France-KLM, the companies said late Thursday. Smith was widely seen by analysts as a likely successor to Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu, who will turn 63 next month. Smith is leaving Air Canada after the carrier reported records last year for sales and a broad measure of earnings. During a decade-long revamp under Rovinescu, the Montreal-based airline has added more fuel-efficient aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, expanded the Rouge discount unit and cut costs with a 2016 debt financing. “Ben will be missed, but Air Canada remains well positioned to drive profitability over the next several years,” Cowen’s Helane Becker said. “Air Canada has good bench strength to replace Ben with an internal candidate. We do not expect there will be much deviation from current plans.” Over the last few years, Smith spearheaded the expansion of Air Canada’s network to more than 200 destinations worldwide with a fleet of about 350 planes. He also worked to develop Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport as the carrier’s main global hub under a so-called “sixth freedom” strategy designed to entice US passengers to fly through Canada on their way to Europe and Asia.<br/>