Air Canada announced Monday that CEO Michael Rousseau will step down later this year following widespread backlash over a video statement he delivered after a fatal plane crash at LaGuardia Airport, which drew criticism for being delivered almost entirely in English, as reported by The New York Post.
Rousseau, who has served as CEO since 2021 and spent nearly two decades in senior roles at the airline, informed the company’s board that he plans to retire by the end of the third quarter of 2026.
In a statement, Air Canada said the timing aligns with the company’s succession planning.
Air Canada CEO 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 https://t.co/lCKT7RsZnk
— Bloomberg (@business) March 30, 2026
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An airline spokesperson said Rousseau “has reached a natural retirement age” and indicated that his planned departure was consistent with internal leadership transition plans, despite questions about whether the decision was influenced by recent public criticism.
The controversy followed a four-minute video Rousseau released after the March 22 crash at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
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The incident occurred shortly before midnight when an Air Canada passenger aircraft collided with a rescue truck that was responding to a separate emergency on the runway.
The collision destroyed the front section of the plane, killed both pilots, and left 41 people hospitalized. The airport was closed for most of the following day.
Watch how Air Canada Collided With a Fire Truck at LaGuardia
Sunday night, March 22, 2026. LaGuardia Airport is already stretched thin. A United Airlines flight has aborted its takeoff after an anti-ice warning light comes on, flight attendants in the back are feeling ill from… pic.twitter.com/eQyRL9ebmt
— Dami’ Adenuga (@DAMIADENUGA) March 24, 2026
In the video, Rousseau expressed his “deepest sorrow for everyone affected” by the crash.
However, the statement was delivered almost entirely in English, with Rousseau only saying “bonjour” at the beginning and “merci” at the conclusion.
Air Canada President and CEO Michael Rousseau provides a video statement on the tragic accident involving Air Canada Express AC8646: pic.twitter.com/ZwFibpOkj2
— Air Canada (@AirCanada) March 23, 2026
The video prompted strong reactions in Quebec, where French is the predominant language and where Air Canada is headquartered in Montreal.
The province’s legislature passed a motion calling for Rousseau to step down, citing concerns that the video failed to respect the province’s linguistic expectations.
Air Canada operates under Canada’s Official Languages Act, which requires equal service in both English and French.
Following the video’s release, thousands of complaints were filed with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.
Criticism intensified as details about the crash victims emerged. One of the pilots killed, Antoine Forest, 30, was from Coteau-du-Lac, a city in southwestern Quebec with a largely French-speaking population.
The other pilot, Mackenzie Gunther, 24, served as the flight’s first officer and was from a suburb of Ottawa.
In a subsequent written statement issued in both English and French, Rousseau said he was “deeply saddened” that his inability to speak French “diverted attention” away from those affected by the crash.
He acknowledged that his French skills remain limited “despite many lessons over several years,” adding, “I sincerely apologize for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve.”
The incident revived earlier criticism from 2021, shortly after Rousseau became CEO, when he delivered a speech to Montreal business leaders primarily in English.
At the time, he said he was proud to have lived in Montreal for more than a decade without speaking French, a remark that also drew backlash. He later issued an apology and committed to improving his French.
Audio recordings from the LaGuardia incident captured an air traffic controller attempting to prevent the collision. The controller was heard shouting, “Stop, stop, stop, stop!” before later stating, “I messed up.”
The airline continues to face scrutiny over both the crash and its handling of communications in the aftermath, as the leadership transition moves forward.
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