Less than 2 billion euros. This is what Air France-KLM, the fourth European player, is worth on the stock market, as we write these lines, with its 76,000 employees, its 506 planes and its 94 million passengers transported last year. Total capitalization has already fallen even lower, in June 2012, below the billion mark. This was just before the then new CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, launched his “Transform 2015” recovery plan. The situation is critical again. Over one year, Air France KLM saw its capitalization fall by 40%. And since the arrival of general manager Benjamin Smith at the helm in September 2018, it has been divided by almost two.
How can we explain this decline? The question arises all the more since at the same time, the Spanish-British group IAG, number three in Europe, is experiencing a diametrically opposite trajectory: over twelve months, its share price has jumped by 53%. In the third quarter, the group at the head of the Spanish companies Vueling and Iberia, British British Airways and Irish Aer Lingus, even managed to double Air France KLM in terms of turnover.
Evolution of the stock price of Air France KLM and IAG between November 20, 2023 and November 19, 2024. Credit: Challenges
