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(Bloomberg) — Air Canada Chief Executive Officer Michael Rousseau announced he’s leaving after creating a public relations fiasco with an English-only video statement about the deadly runway collision at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
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Rousseau will retire by the end of the third quarter, Air Canada said in a statement Monday morning.
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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.
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That caused a furor in Quebec, where the provincial legislature voted 92 to zero in favor of a motion calling for Rousseau’s resignation.
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Canada’s largest airline is subject to the Official Languages Act, requiring it to provide equal services in English and French. 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.
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Many French-speaking Canadians pointed out that one of the two pilots killed in the crash, Antoine Forest, was from Quebec.
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In 2021, just 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 despite an apology.
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