Members and guests of the French-American Chamber of Commerce, the Belgian-American Chamber of Commerce, and the Netherland-America Foundation gathered on June 2nd for a discussion and reception with Christine Ourmières, Vice-President & General Manager, Air France KLM USA.

Addressing Air France-KLM: The New Paradigm, Ms. Ourmières offered an informative overview of the airline operating environment over the last 10 years, and focused on the increased consolidation of European airlines. Drawing on the 2004 Air France-KLM merger, she explored the commercial restructuring that ensued, as well as the formation of "two brands under one umbrella" offering distinct products and styles.

Today's challenge, Ms. Ourmières stated, lies in the recovery of premium travel. Indeed, the industry has lost 2 years of air travel growth since April 2008. Air France-KLM has responded with long-haul adaptation and medium-haul transformation (including the leveraging of partnerships and the restructuring of schedules). Ms. Ourmières pointed to the new Airbus A380 to describe how Air France-KLM best leverages its assets, as well.

Concluding with "lessons learned" in consolidation, Ms. Ourmières emphasized the importance of adapting global versus local solutions, avoiding too much "internal focus", protecting the brand, streamlining processes, and involving all levels of human resources.

Following a dynamic question-and-answer session, attendees gathered for a networking reception.