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Michael Rousseau, Air Canada’s chief executive, is set to relinquish his post later this year, following a significant political controversy ignited by his inability to speak French in a video message concerning a deadly aircraft accident in New York.
Aviators Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther tragically lost their lives when an Air Canada Express aircraft, operated by Jazz Aviation, struck a fire engine on a LaGuardia airport tarmac at the start of the current month. Mr. Forest hailed from Quebec and was a francophone.
Subsequent to the mishap, Rousseau distributed a four-minute video expressing sympathy solely in English, conveying his “profoundest regret for all impacted individuals,” with merely a “bonjour” at its start and a “merci” at its conclusion. The nation’s biggest carrier, Air Canada, has its headquarters in Quebec, a province predominantly French-speaking.
Canada is formally a two-language country, and his statement drew strong criticism from high-ranking government officials, simultaneously reigniting persistent frictions which prompted Quebec to seek sovereignty through plebiscites in 1980 and 1995.
On Wednesday, Canadian Premier Mark Carney stated he felt “greatly let down,” further asserting that “we proudly reside in a two-language nation, and especially corporations such as Air Canada, bear an obligation to consistently communicate in both official tongues.”
Mélanie Joly, the Industry minister, representing primarily Francophone Montreal, declared the communication exhibited an “absence of compassion.” Meanwhile, Bloc Québécois chief Yves-François Blanchet, in an update on X, branded the clip a “regrettable and egregious disregard for the bereaved and relatives” and pressed Rousseau to resign from his position.
Rousseau sought to rectify the situation the subsequent day after his first declaration, presenting a “heartfelt” regret and clarifying that “in spite of numerous instructional sessions spanning several years, I regrettably remain incapable of articulating myself proficiently in French.”
However, this Monday, Air Canada disclosed his retirement date as September. The airline further stated that when selecting his replacement, its board would “take into account various performance benchmarks when evaluating contenders, among them the aptitude for French communication.” It also mentioned that the departing chief executive would stay accessible to guarantee an orderly handover.
Rousseau had previously encountered demands for his resignation, notably shortly after his 2021 designation, when he gave an address almost wholly in English. Air Canada falls under the purview of the federal Official Languages Act, which mandates it to offer provisions to its patrons in both English and French.
The Canadian administration possesses no equity in the carrier, which underwent complete privatization in 1989, though it maintained a 6 percent share in the publicly traded firm from 2021 to 2024 as a component of an aid program to bolster the nation’s principal airline following the Covid-19 outbreak’s repercussions.
Jazz Aviation, a subsidiary of Nova Scotia-headquartered holding firm Chorus Aviation, conducts regional air services via agreement for Air Canada beneath the Air Canada Express designation.
The American National Transportation Safety Board commenced an inquiry into the Air Canada Express aircraft’s impact, which had received clearance for landing prior to striking a fire suppression apparatus that air traffic controllers had authorized to traverse the LaGuardia tarmac.
Last week, the safety authority reported that an electronic mechanism had neglected to alert air traffic management about the impending impact, and the fire engine lacked a transponder, notwithstanding government advisories.