canadiancow

At a former employer, if I proactively tried to refer someone, the first question was "are you subject to a non-solicit with this person's current employer?"

If I answered "yes", I couldn't fill out anything else.

However, even if someone happened to apply, and mentioned to a recruiter that they knew me, I'd get the same form. And I'd be unable to provide any reference, good or bad.

ridefar

You guys are a heck of a lot more organized than we are! (And knowing what I know of our HR department, that isn't a huge surprise...)

Jagboi

People often don't quit their job, they quit their boss. Perhaps who's at the top is a miserable SOB to work for?

rehoult

I don't think I'd go that far, as nobody really worked for Calin before and I doubt that's changed much now. Short of CFO and VP HR (IIRC), pretty much everyone else reported through Ben. Not sure who everyone is under now, but I can't imagine Calin suddenly deciding that 20 direct reports is something he wants to manage.

Also, I should clarify that I'm not slogging Calin. He deserves huge credit for what he accomplished in the boardroom, markets and his exec appointments. The refinancings, new fleet, huge stock gains, etc... are all a testament to his skill. He also put Ben in his role, and appointing someone to run the airline when you're already the CEO is pretty selfless when you figure 99% of the time it'll cost your job (either cause they're good and take over, or suck and you get blamed).

Having said that, credit for changing the day-to-day operations and public image goes to Ben and his team. The union contracts, new routes, new pods, Signature Service, etc... were all under him, so it doesn't shock me to see his team follow him. The last 5 years at AC were wildly successful, who wouldn't want a chance to do that again with people you've enjoyed working with?

Stranger

24left

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...ges-in-454443/

24left

Fascinating, amusing, or both. Otherwise, some very interesting bits.

Ben Smith et les syndicats d'Air France enterrent Joon

Par Fabrice Gliszczynski 10/01/2019, 12:59

https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises...on-803270.html


QUOTE (bolding mine here):

"Ce n'est qu'une demi-surprise depuis que Le Figaro avait dévoilé, fin novembre, l'intention du nouveau directeur général d'Air France-KLM, le Canadien Ben Smith, de mettre fin à cette compagnie."

......"Or, Ben Smith veut jouer sur la puissance de la marque Air France et veut développer une stratégie haut de gamme.".......


Followed by quotes from Ben Smith on their focus on Premium customers (which are in the article and contained in an email sent Jan 9).You should read them.


For those needing an English summary

https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...where-rejoice/

https://onemileatatime.com/air-france-ending-joon/

24left

Looks like Ben is busy. This stuff is really worth the read. Such intrigue. Maybe I should get some snacks and a comfy chair. Looks like a made-for-TV mini-series.

Can you imagine AC employees signing a petition to keep their CEO?

***
The Bloomberg article linked in the second post here is really interesting

New AF/KLM CEO killing the one part of the company that makes money?

https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/...kes-money.html



Why the CEO of Air France KLM is Having Such a Tough Time Firing KLM’s CEO

https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...ring-klms-ceo/

QUOTE:

"There’s a clear campaign afoot to push out KLM’s independent CEO by Smith, the group CEO. However Lucky at One Mile at a Time writes that KLM’s CEO is so popular with employees that it’s a problem because it’s hard for Ben Smith to push him out. Over 70% of KLM employees (25,000) signed a petition demanding the group keep him on as KLM CEO.

Skift‘s Brian Sumers meanwhile writes ‘it’s time to let Air France KLM’s new CEO take charge’ concluding “Smith is the CEO and he deserves freedom to name his own team.”


KLM’s CEO Is So Popular With Employees That It’s A Problem

https://onemileatatime.com/klm-ceo-popular/

QUOTE:

"Last week I wrote about the current challenge at Air France-KLM. Air France-KLM has a new CEO, Ben Smith, who is doing a fantastic job. He’s an incredibly competent leader, and he’s exactly what the company needs to turn things around.

There were rumors last week that Smith might be looking to replace KLM CEO Pieter Elbers, as his contract expires this April. The rumored reason for this is that Elbers doesn’t want KLM to work more closely with Air France, which is a big part of Smith’s vision.

The problem is that Elbers has done a phenomenal job running KLM. Like, a really, really great job, as he has made the airline extremely profitable......

.....Smith is in a tough situation ....Ultimately we don’t really know what’s going on behind the scenes here........"

canopus27

As reported in pprune:
The referenced Le Monde article is here: https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/arti...5737_3234.html

So .... yes, Ben appears to be doing ok.

24left

Meanwhile, in Ben news




https://skift.com/2019/07/02/new-air...on-air-france/


These QUOTES amused me. Plus references to Air Canada, rouge and such.

"Smith, who created Air Canada Rouge, a discount subsidiary, said he understands low-cost, long-haul airlines may steal share from Air France. But he said Norwegian doesn’t pose so much of a threat that Air France needs another airline to combat it."


"There are other places Smith wants to simplify. More than many airline CEOs, Smith is a product person, taking care to choose seats and other cabin elements. At Air Canada, he was fanatical about consistency, so while the airline may not have the world’s best product, business travelers knew what to expect."


"Smith may have a tool to stem the losses. Air France and KLM each run a low-cost, short-haul airline called Transavia, and both are reasonably competitive. However, because of union agreements, Transavia France can only fly 40 airplanes, so it lacks the scale to fly all the routes Smith would like."


"In May Air France pilots voted to allow their union to negotiate with the company on increasing the 40-airplane limit at Transavia France. In the past pilots have been angry whenever the airline has proposed adding new airplanes at Transavia, so Smith said he sees this as a good sign. But he still needs a deal.In May Air France pilots voted to allow their union to negotiate with the company on increasing the 40-airplane limit at Transavia France. In the past pilots have been angry whenever the airline has proposed adding new airplanes at Transavia, so Smith said he sees this as a good sign. But he still needs a deal."


"Not everyone is sure Smith has what it takes to reform Air France-KLM.

“He really miscalculated that move with Pieter Elbers,” Röska said. “The Dutch government went on a rampage and said, ‘You are not going to fire this guy.”’

Some journalists, analysts, and rival airline executives have asked if Smith will be a short-timer. But Shabat said it’s too early to know."

Jumper Jack

The only consistent part of my business class experience on AC is when I pray I don't get a deflated seat

canadiancow

You've clearly never flown international J on United in the past 5 years.

Are you going to get Polaris or 2-4-2 when you buy your ticket? No one knows.

That's what he means by consistency.

AC has two seats. And the XM is being phased out.

Certainly not perfect, but much more consistent than many other airlines.

Even on SQ I didn't realize I was getting 2-2-2 until after I booked my ticket.

Wings100

Bohemian1

@Jumper Jack nice too see you back too.

Jumper Jack

I never left