Michael Rousseau, CEO of Air Canada, apologized Thursday after posting a condolence video in English only following a deadly runway accident at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
Two Air Canada pilots were killed when the Air Canada Jazz flight they were landing collided with a fire truck on the runway Sunday. One of the pilots was from Quebec, the French-speaking province where Air Canada is also headquartered in Montreal.
Rousseau faced heavy criticism for the four-minute online message, which used only the French words “bonjour” and “merci.” Many called for his resignation over the incident.
“I am deeply saddened that my inability to speak French has diverted attention from the profound grief of the families and the great resilience of Air Canada’s employees, who have demonstrated outstanding professionalism despite the events of the past few days,” Rousseau said in a statement. He acknowledged that “despite many lessons over several years,” he still could not express himself adequately in French.
Quebec Premier François Legault said Rousseau had promised to learn French when he became the airline’s president in February 2021. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “very disappointed, as others are, rightly so, in this unilingual message,” adding it showed a “lack of judgement and a lack of compassion.” He noted that Canada has two official languages.
In New York, LaGuardia administrators reopened the runway where the two pilots died. Officials said the runway and related infrastructure were “repaired, inspected, and confirmed” to meet Federal Aviation Administration regulations for safe operation.
The US National Transportation Safety Board is continuing its investigation into the crash. The plane’s wreckage and the fire truck were towed from the site late Wednesday.
Edited by: Rana Taha