Florence Parly will succeed Anne-Marie Couderc as president of Air France-KLM. This Thursday evening, the group announced that “ On the recommendation of the Nomination and Governance Committee, the Air France-KLM Board of Directors decided to appoint Florence Parly as a director by co-optation, replacing Isabelle Parize. This co-optation will be subject to ratification by the next Air France-KLM General Meeting.. »And to add in the process:
“This appointment is part of the prospect of the succession of Anne-Marie Couderc as Chairman of the Board of Directors, at the latest at the end of the 2025 General Meeting ruling on the accounts for the year 2024 .”
In other words, Florence Parly will replace Anne-Marie Couderc in 18 months. It seems a long time, but the former Minister of the Armed Forces of Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term is no longer a few months away. Already in pole position to take the position last year, she had the merit of hanging on to this prospect.
Modification of the statutes
To this end, a modification of the Air France-KLM statutes will be submitted to the 2024 General Meeting in order to allow the extension of Anne-Marie Couderc’s mandate for an additional year.
This is not the first time that Air France-KLM has modified its statutes to allow its current president to remain in office despite the age limit. In office since 2018, the one who was first recruited to provide a temporary job is now 73 years old. And her mandate was not easy: Anne-Marie Couderc had, among other things, to manage the consequences of the hasty departure of Jean-Marc Janaillac from his position as CEO, the tumultuous relations between Air France and KLM or even the Covid crisis.
Knowledgeable about the house
It’s a return in the form of revenge for Florence Parly, who left Air France through the back door in September 2014. Thus, the 60-year-old enarque knows the company well having worked there for eight years, with several positions at the key. She was first director of investment strategy (until 2008) at a time when Air France was studying a multitude of files (Alitalia, Cityjet, acquisition of a stake in Delta and Easyjet, etc.), then general director deputy in charge of Cargo (until the end of 2012) thus becoming a member of the executive committee.
Florence Parly was then aiming for the position of general manager of the French company, but was appointed deputy general manager in charge of passenger activity at Orly and stopovers in France. She therefore completed her time at Air France with the heavy task of reorganizing this structurally loss-making division as part of the Transform 2015 plan.
Disillusioned at being sidelined, she then slammed the door to bounce back at SNCF in 2014, as deputy general director in charge of strategy and finance. A position she held until her appointment at the Hôtel de Brienne in 2017.
Florence Parly will now have to form a new tandem at the head of Air France-KLM, with Benjamin Smith, general director since 2018.