Air France-KLM CE forfeits bonus under Dutch pressure

Air France-KLM CE Ben Smith said Thursday he had given up his 2020 bonus, after a Dutch minister urged executive pay restraint in return for the billions of euros in govt aid sought by the airline group. Smith, who had offered in March to trim his pay in response to the coronavirus crisis, said in a statement the cut "includes forfeiting my annual short-term variable compensation". The move follows an outcry in the Netherlands over new performance criteria that appeared to reward the CE for attracting state aid - prompting Dutch Finance minister Wopke Hoekstra to call publicly for his bonus to be scrapped. "Bonuses in these times of crisis are unwise and incompatible with support funded by taxpayers' money," Hoekstra said. <br/>