Air Canada has introduced that CEO Michael Rousseau will retire by the top of this 12 months’s third quarter on Monday morning.
The information comes after backlash from political leaders last week over Rousseau’s English-only video condolences after the lethal Air Canada crash at LaGuardia Airport that killed two of the airways pilots, together with one from Quebec.
“The Board has had a longstanding give attention to CEO succession planning. According to this precedence, work has been underway for greater than two years on a complete inside improvement program for prime potential executives,” Air Canada’s assertion reads.
“An exterior world search was additionally commenced in January 2026 to determine potential extra candidates with the talents, and expertise to steer Canada’s nationwide airline, proudly headquartered in Montréal, Québec.”
Rousseau has been the CEO of Air Canada since February 2021.
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday stated Rousseau’s determination to retire was “applicable.”
“It’s important that the following CEO of Air Canada is bilingual,” he advised reporters at an occasion in Toronto.
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“That ought to’ve gone with out saying, to start with, however latest occasions have underscored the significance of that.”
Carney added Rousseau was “an efficient operator of the airline and did many issues, and I salute him for that, however being a pacesetter has many duties.”
Carney had criticized Rousseau’s English-only crash condolences final week, saying he was “very disenchanted.”
“It doesn’t matter the circumstances however notably in these circumstances: an absence of judgment and an absence of compassion,” Carney advised reporters on Thursday.
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“We stay in a bilingual nation. Firms like Air Canada, notably, have a accountability to all the time talk in each official languages, whatever the scenario.”
In these remarks, and once more on Monday, the prime minister spoke first in French earlier than repeating the criticisms in English.
Carney has labored to spice up his French abilities since coming into politics over a 12 months in the past.
His proficiency improved over the course of the Liberal management marketing campaign and the final election race final 12 months after scuffling with the language in his preliminary appearances.
In a single notable flub in the course of the Liberal management French debate, he mistakenly stated “we agree with Hamas,” prompting his then-opponent Chrystia Freeland to right him.
In a French-language interview in April previous to the election, Carney rated his French abilities at a “six out of 10,” however promised to enhance to an eight or 9 out of 10 by the top of his first time period as prime minister.
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