Amsterdam/Paris — Air France-KLM shares fell 4% on Friday in response to the hostile reception from unions to the company’s new boss Benjamin Smith, while the airline’s Dutch pilots threatened to strike over working conditions. Unions representing workers at the French company were openly hostile to the appointment of Smith, COO at Air Canada, accusing the group of handing control to a foreigner and not protecting Air France’s interests. Air France-KLM shares were among the worst-performing stocks on Paris’s SBF-120 index. "Driving the share price is essentially the discontent of the unions," Meriem Mokdad, fund manager at Paris-based Roche-Brune Asset Management, said. Smith, who takes up his post before the end of September, will have to deal with labour troubles at Air France that have cost the airline €335m so far this year, forced the resignation of his predecessor, and seen shares slump 36% in 2018. French unions are due to discuss another round of strike action on August. 27....
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