Air France-KLM CEO Says Company Would Consider Buying a Competitor
Photo Credit: Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith. Smith said the company might participate in future European consolidation. Air France-KLM
Skift Take
The Air France-KLM merger has been a textbook example of how hard it is to meld corporate cultures. But CEO Ben Smith isn't letting that deter him from taking a look at new acquisitions. Too soon?
Air France-KLM would consider participating in European consolidation and could buy or invest in another carrier, CEO Ben Smith told Skift at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Seoul.
"There are neat opportunities, that are priced right, that are strategically right, and you have to at least consider them," Smith said at the conference for aviation executives. "There are some airlines that are interesting out there."
European airline executives in Seoul repeatedly complained about overcapacity, particularly in Western Europe, saying there are too many airlines competing for the same passengers. The short-haul European market remains more fragmented than in the United States, where four big airlines control the bulk of domestic share.
"In Europe, we have huge overcapacity," Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr s
