Air Canada’s CEO Michael Rousseau will retire later this year, the airline said on Monday, following criticism of his English-only message of condolence after the death of two pilots in a collision at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
Canada’s largest airline, based in Montreal in French-speaking Quebec, said Rousseau told the board he would retire by the end of the third quarter.
The chairman of Air Canada’s board of directors, Vagn Sorenson, thanked Rousseau for his years of service as chief financial officer, deputy CEO and then CEO.
“We are grateful for the determined leadership he has provided not only in steering our company through the 2007-2008 financial crisis, COVID and other challenges, but also in capturing opportunities such as the acquisition of Aeroplan, in restoring the solvency of our pension plans, and in advancing customer centricity and employee well-being priorities,” Sorenson said.
Rousseau said it had been “my great honor to work with the dedicated and talented people of Air Canada and to represent our outstanding organization,” adding that he looked forward to supporting the company “during this important transition period.”
Why had Rousseau come under fire in francophone Canada?
Rousseau faced a backlash, including from Canada’s top politicians, after his response to a fatal collision after landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport that killed two pilots. The CEO issued a condolence video in English only, with French subtitles. One of the pilots killed, Antoine Forest, was a French-speaking Quebecer; the other, Mackenzie Gunther, was primarily English-speaking.
Canada is officially bilingual, and Quebec is about 80% French-speaking.
Quebec’s Premier François Legault said Rousseau had pledged to learn French when promoted to the airline’s top job in 2021, and called for his resignation. The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages received hundreds of complaints about the incident.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the absence of a French message showed a lack of compassion and judgment, saying people were right to be “very disappointed.”
Rousseau apologized, saying he was saddened that his limited French had “diverted attention from the profound grief” of the bereaved. “Despite many lessons over several years, unfortunately, I am still unable to express myself adequately in French,” he said. “I sincerely apologize for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve.”
In the colonial era, the Quebec area and other parts of modern Canada were once part of what was then called New France. The British completed their conquest of the region in the Seven Years’ War ending in 1763, with language a contentious issue ever since.
Edited by: Rana Taha