Frédéric Gagey
| Frédéric Gagey | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 June 1956 Vesoul, Haute-Saône, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Education | École Polytechnique; ENSAE; Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Employer | Air France; KLM; Air France-KLM; Servair |
| Title | Chairman of the Board, Servair (from 2024) |
| Known for | Chairman and chief executive officer of Air France, 2013 to 2016 |
Frédéric Gagey (born 29 June 1956) is a French business executive. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Air France from 2013 to 2016 and later as chief financial officer of the Air France-KLM group. In May 2024 he was appointed chairman of the board of Servair, the airline catering company.
Gagey spent almost the whole of his career inside the Air France and KLM group, moving through a long series of financial and administrative posts over three decades before leading the airline itself and then returning to run the wider group's finance function.
Early life and education
Gagey was born on 29 June 1956 in Vesoul, in the Haute-Saône department of France. He entered the École Polytechnique in 1977 and graduated in 1980. In 1982 he obtained a qualification from the ENSAE, the École nationale de la statistique et de l'administration économique. In 1983 he completed a master's degree in economics at the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Career
Early career in public administration (1980s to 1994)
Gagey began his career as an administrator at INSEE, the French national statistics institute. From 1987 to 1990 he was inspecteur des finances and head of the industrial affairs bureau within the forecasting department of the French Ministry of the Economy. He then served in the inspection des Finances from 1990 to 1994.
Air Inter and the merger into Air France (1994 to 1999)
Gagey moved to Air Inter, where from 1995 to 1996 he was director of management control, budget and audit. The merger of Air Inter into Air France was completed in 1997. From 1996 to 1997 Gagey was deputy general manager of Air France Europe, and he was then appointed vice president for privatisation and financial communication at the airline, a role covering financial engineering, shareholdings and financial communication. Gagey became its financial affairs director in 1999, a post he held until 2004.
Group finance roles and KLM (2004 to 2012)
In January 2004, Gagey was named chief financial officer of the newly combined Air France-KLM group. Over the following years, to 2012, Gagey held a succession of senior finance and operational posts across the group, including fleet and purchasing director, deputy managing director for finance at KLM, deputy chief executive for fleet, and deputy chief executive for finance at the airline. In 2012, Gagey was appointed chief financial officer of Air France itself.
Chairman and chief executive of Air France (2013 to 2016)
On 1 July 2013, Gagey became chairman and chief executive officer of Air France, succeeding Alexandre de Juniac, who moved up to lead the Air France-KLM group. Gagey led the airline until 2 November 2016, when he was succeeded by a two person leadership structure: Franck Terner as chief executive and Jean-Marc Janaillac as chairman.
Return to group finance and Servair (2016 to 2024)
After leaving the top job at Air France in November 2016, Gagey returned to finance, becoming chief financial officer of the group. On 14 May 2024, Gagey was appointed chairman of the board of directors of Servair.
Honours
Gagey was made a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by decree of 29 March 2013. He was made a chevalier of the National Order of Merit on 30 June 2010 and was promoted to the rank of officier on 15 May 2025.
Assessment
Gagey's career was defined by continuity rather than by movement between employers. From the mid 1990s onward, nearly all of Gagey's posts were within Air France, KLM and the wider group, and Gagey returned to senior group finance roles more than once after other assignments. Gagey's three years as chairman and chief executive, from 2013 to 2016, mark the peak of an otherwise finance focused career, and the dossier does not record why leadership passed to a two person structure in 2016. Gagey was formally recognised by the French state on two occasions, with appointments to the Légion d'honneur and the National Order of Merit, the latter later upgraded to officier rank. The available sources record no controversies or public criticism of his tenure.