Air France’s Board of Directors has appointed Anne Rigail to be the company’s CEO today, effective December 17. Formerly the EVP Customer at Air France, Rigail will replace Benjamin Smith, who was appointed Air France’s acting CEO through the end of 2018. Additionally, the board named Smith as a director of Air France and Anne-Marie Couderc as Chairwoman of the Air France Board of Directors.
A graduate of the Mines Paris Tech university, Rigail joined Air Inter in 1991. Five years later, in 1996, she became head of Air France Customer Services at Paris-Orly. In 1999, she was appointed Director of Passenger and Baggage Connections at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub, and then head of Customer and Baggage Products for Ground Operations.
Rigail rose to head of the Paris-CDG Hub Operations Control Centre in 2005 and to VP Ground Operations at Paris-CDG in 2009. In 2013, she became EVP In-flight Services, in charge of Cabin Crew and last year she began her most recent job, EVP Customer.
“Anne is a strong professional in the airline industry,” said Smith, who proposed Rigail’s appointment. “Throughout her career, she has always paid particular attention to employees while implementing the many projects and transformations she has led, and placed the customer at the heart of everything she does.”
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