Air Canada CEO to Quit After Furor About Crash Condolence Video

Bloomberg Canada Reporter Derek Decloet discusses the decision of Air Canada's CEO to step down after a controversial English-only video statement about the deadly runway collision at LaGuardia.

Air Canada Chief Executive Officer Michael Rousseau announced he’s leaving after creating a public relations fiasco with an English-language video about the deadly runway collision at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

Rousseau, 68, will retire by the end of the third quarter, Air Canada said in a statement Monday morning.

An Air Canada Express jet flew from Montreal to New York on March 22 and, after landing, collided with an airport fire truck, killing both pilots. Rousseau made a video statement in which he expressed his “deepest sorrow for everyone affected.” But the only words he spoke in French were “bonjour” at the beginning and “merci” at the end. French subtitles were provided.

That caused a furor in Quebec, where the provincial legislature, known as the National Assembly, voted 92 to zero in favor of a motion calling for Rousseau’s resignation. Many French-speaking Canadians pointed out that one of the two pilots killed in the crash, Antoine Forest, was from Quebec.

Canada’s largest airline is required to provide services in English and French, the country’s two official languages. It’s also headquartered in the Montreal region, the business and financial center of Quebec, the only Canadian province where French is the majority language.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney lambasted Rousseau last week, saying the video showed a “lack of judgment and lack of compassion.” Succession Plans

The airline said the board has been working on succession planning for more than two years, and that in January it started an external global search.

There were a number of board meetings in the past week due to the LaGuardia accident and prior to Rousseau’s departure announcement, according to a person familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

“The Board will consider a number of performance criteria in assessing candidates including the ability to communicate in French,” Air Canada said.

RBC Capital Markets analyst James McGarragle said that Rousseau, who took over from Calin Rovinescu in the midst of the Covid pandemic, “provided critical stabilizing leadership through severe operational challenges.” The next leader “must combine operational rigor with a clear strategic vision to navigate persistent industry headwinds including fuel price volatility, labor cost pressures, and competitive intensity,” McGarragle said in a note to clients.

Air Canada shares were down 1.3% to C$17.67 as of 12:16 p.m. in Toronto. They’ve gained about 25% over the past year, outperforming the Bloomberg World Airlines index.

In 2021, shortly after being appointed CEO, Rousseau gave a speech to Montreal business leaders almost entirely in English. After the event, he expressed some pride in being able to live in Montreal for more than a decade without speaking French, sparking outrage in Quebec. He apologized that time, too. Rousseau — who had taken more than 300 hours of French classes since being appointed CEO in 2021 — issued a formal apology on Thursday, saying he was “deeply saddened” that his inability to speak French had “diverted attention from the profound grief of the families and the great resilience of Air Canada’s employees.”

But by that point, it was already clear he would have trouble staying on.

Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, one of the company’s largest shareholders, told Bloomberg News that “there is no doubt that the video should have been in both official languages.” More than 1,800 complaints regarding the video had been received by the federal Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages as of Thursday afternoon.

Canada’s House of Commons called on Rousseau to testify before a parliamentary committee about the video. Parts of that hearing would have been conducted in French.

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