Former Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly appointed Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Air France-KLM

The High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP) had already given its approval in April 2023 for Florence Parly to join the board of directors of Air France-KLM . On one condition: that she refrain until May 20, 2025 from "any approach" to "the services over which she had authority" as Minister of the Armed Forces throughout Emmanuel Macron's first term, between 2017 and 2022. A deadline that is fast approaching, as the air transport group announced her appointment as chair of its board of directors in a press release on Tuesday, April 29.

"His extensive experience in the business world and institutions, in management positions in the transport sector and as a minister, are remarkable assets for the success of Air France-KLM," reads the text written by the group's current president, Anne-Marie Couderc, who has held this position since May 2018 and was herself a minister under Jacques Chirac.

Anne-Marie Couderc reached the age limit for this non-executive position in May 2023, but her term was ultimately extended by one year at a general meeting in June 2024. At the same general meeting, Air France-KLM shareholders voted 99% in favor of appointing Florence Parly to the group's board of directors, with the presidency in her sights.

Florence Parly, a 61-year-old graduate of the ENA, former advisor to Lionel Jospin at Matignon in 1997 and then Secretary of State for the Budget in 2000 , knows Air France well, where she worked from 2006 to 2014, as Director of Investment Strategy, then as Deputy Director General, initially in charge of cargo activity before short-haul. She then joined SNCF, and was appointed Minister of the Armed Forces in June 2017. "Despite a financial situation that remains to be consolidated, our group has emerged stronger from the successive crises," Anne-Marie Couderc commented in her press release, saying she was "confident about the future of Air France-KLM."