Air France to Name Its First Female Chief Executive Officer
- Group boss Smith plucks Rigail from customer-service role
- New Air France-KLM leader is hand-picking his management team
Phototgrapher: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
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The French unit of Air France-KLM Group named Anne Rigail as chief executive officer, making her the first woman to lead the airline just as it faces crucial pay negotiations with pilots.
The appointment of Rigail, 49, was approved by the Air France board on Wednesday as group CEO Ben Smith lines up a new management team after taking over in September. Smith himself has been running the unit and will hand over the role on Dec. 17.