FILE PHOTO: Air Canada's Benjamin Smith poses for a picture during a reception at the 2016 International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit in Dublin, Ireland June 2, 2016. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - The board of Air France-KLM AIR.PA named Air Canada AC.TO executive Benjamin Smith as its new chief executive on Thursday, opting for an outsider to try and steer the group through a fraught stand-off with unions at its French carrier.

Smith, until now the Canadian airline’s chief operating officer, will take up his new job at Air France-KLM at the latest by September 30, the company said in a statement.

His appointment comes more than three months after Jean-Marc Janaillac stepped down as CEO after staff rejected a pay deal intended to end a wave of costly strikes at Air France.