Benjamin Smith, the new group chief executive officer of Air France-KLM, pledged to invest half of his annual fixed salary - EUR450,000 euros (USD527,000) - back into the holding's shares, the Financial Times has reported.
"I’ve already made one personal investment by moving my family to France. Today I’ve decided to make another and invest half of my fixed salary in the shareholding of the group. It is a commitment to my belief in the future success of Air France-KLM," Smith said in a video to the staff.
Smith, an ex-Air Canada executive, is the first non-Frenchman to head Air France-KLM. His appointment was opposed by the unions at Air France, with the remuneration being one of the chief points of contention. Besides the EUR900,000 euro (USD1.05 million) fixed salary, Smith could also pocket up to EUR3.6 million euro (USD4.2 million) in performance-dependent bonuses.
The previous Group CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac quit in May 2018 after the French unions rejected a new turnaround plan in a referendum.
