Air France renews KLM chief in deal on closer integration

PARIS (Reuters) - The board of Air France-KLM agreed to back the reappointment of KLM boss Pieter Elbers, the Franco-Dutch airline group said in a statement, as it appeared to resolve a standoff over closer integration of the two airlines.

New Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith had been pushing for more concerted decision-making in areas such as fleet management, as well as his own seat on the KLM board, but had encountered resistance from Elbers and the Dutch carrier's workforce.

Concerns about his possible departure after his KLM contract expires in April led to a show of public support by its employees last week as well as talks between Smith and Dutch ministers.

Besides his reappointment, Air France-KLM said its group board had unanimously approved steps to "simply key group operational processes" in fleet and networks, commercial and alliance strategy, human resources and digital management.

Elbers and his Air France counterpart, Anne Rigail, were also appointed as deputy group CEOs.

"We are convinced that Benjamin Smith and his team, with the renewal of Pieter Elbers, will drive further growth at Air France-KLM," Chairman Anne-Marie Couderc said in the statement.

Air France-KLM is due to publish its full-year 2018 earnings on Wednesday.

(Reporting by GV De Clercq; Editing by Laurence Frost)