Jean-Cyril Spinetta was appointed Chairman and C.E.O. of AIR FRANCE on 22 September 1997 and Chairman and C.E.O of the AIR FRANCE KLM Group on 24 June 2004.

Born in Paris on 4 October 1943, Jean-Cyril Spinetta entered the French Civil Service as Head of the Investments and Planning Department of the Ministry of Education in 1972 and was subsequently seconded to the Council of State as auditor in 1976. Thereafter he held a series of positions including Head of the Information Department for the Prime Minister (1981), Director at the Ministry of Education (1983) and Chief of Staff for Michel Delebarre (1984), who was successively Minister of Labour and Vocational Training, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment and Minister of Planning and Development, Housing and Transport.

Jean-Cyril Spinetta joined Air Inter as Chairman and C.E.O. in 1990, where he remained until 1993. He subsequently held the post of advisor to the President of France for industrial matters from 1994 to 1995. In January 1996, he joined the staff of the European Commissioner in charge of science, research and education.

Jean-Cyril Spinetta was Chairman of the Association of European Airlines (AEA) for the year 2001. He was elected Chairman of the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Board of Governors for 2004-2005.

Jean-Cyril Spinetta sits on the Board of Directors of Alitalia and Saint-Gobain.

He is an Officier de la Légion d'Honneur, Officier de l'Ordre National du Mérite and Officier des Palmes Académiques. He holds university degrees in public law and political science. He also graduated from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration.