Air Canada CEO to step down after backlash over his English-only crash message

Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau said he will retire later this year, days after drawing criticism for an English-only condolence message following this month’s deadly crash in New York.

Canada’s largest airline, based in French-speaking Quebec, said Rousseau, who is 68, told the board he will leave by the end of September. Air Canada, which is required by law to offer flight service in both English and French, said it will search for a new CEO who has “the ability to communicate in French.”

The crash occurred on March 22, when an Air Canada Jazz flight from Montreal arrived at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and collided with a fire-and-rescue vehicle on a runway. The plane’s two pilots were killed in the crash. They were Antoine Forest, a French-speaking Quebecer, and Mackenzie Gunther, a graduate of Toronto’s Seneca Polytechnic. 

After the crash, Rousseau delivered his condolence video message in English, with French subtitles. 

Canada is an officially bilingual nation, and Prime Minister Mark Carney had said the English-only message showed a lack of compassion and judgment. Quebec’s premier and others called on the airline executive to resign, while the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages has received hundreds of complaints.

Steven MacKinnon, Canada’s transport minister, thanked Rousseau in a social media post and said the government will continue to work closely with Air Canada to ensure it “provides safe, reliable, affordable and bilingual service to all Canadians.”

Quebec Premier François Legault noted that when Rousseau was appointed president of the airline in February 2021, he promised to learn French. Before serving as Air Canada’s CEO, Rousseau had worked as the airline’s deputy CEO and chief financial officer.

Quebec’s identity has been contentious since the 1760s, when the British completed their takeover of what was then called New France. Quebec is about 80% French-speaking.