Why has Air Canada's CEO Apologised After Condolence Video?

Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau has apologised for expressing his condolences in English and not French, after a crash at LaGuardia Airport resulted in the death of two Air Canada pilots.

In the publicly-released condolence video, Michael expressed his sympathy to the grieving families of both pilots and the staff of Air Canada.

He has since faced calls to resign after failing to deliver his condolences in both languages. One of the pilots, Antoine Forest, was a French Canadian.

Michael, a native English-speaker, said he was unable to express his thoughts “adequately” in French, Canada’s official second language.

Since the video’s release, he has faced calls from lawmakers to resign as CEO, with notable criticism from Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Carney said Michael’s lack of consideration for French speakers showed a “lack of compassion” and that “companies like Air Canada particularly have a responsibility to always communicate in both official languages”.

Consideration for French customers

On 22 March, Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther were both killed after an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia airport in New York.

The flight had come from Montreal, Quebec. Dozens of passengers were injured and four remain in hospital.

Shortly after the accident, Michael released a condolence video on X expressing his “deepest sorrow for everyone affected”.

The message was delivered in English and the video included subtitles in English and French.

Catching the attention of Canada’s parliamentary Committee on Official Languages, the body summoned Rousseau to explain the lack of consideration for French speakers in the video.

Michael has previously come under fire in the past for his inability to speak French, including shortly after he was appointed as CEO of Air Canada in 2021.

In a written statement, released in both English and French on 26 March, Rousseau admitted that his French remains weak “despite many lessons over several years”.

“I sincerely apologise for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve,” he added.

His statement did not address the calls for him to resign.

Government pressures

In response to criticism of the video, Michael released a statement saying: “I am deeply saddened that my inability to speak French has diverted attention from the profound grief of the families and the great resilience of Air Canada’s employees, who have demonstrated outstanding professionalism despite the events of the past few days.”

Following this, Quebec politicians announced a motion that demanded Michael step down from his leadership position and that the next CEO of Air Canada should be proficient in the French language.

The motion passed with 92 for it and none against it. One person abstained.

Politicians suggested Michael has a “lack of respect for the French language, Quebec families in mourning, and all francophones across the province”.

Christophe Hennebelle, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Air Canada has said in a company statement that Michael has no intentions of stepping down as CEO.

Beginning as a federal public corporation, Air Canada transitioned to private company status in 1988.

It remains subject to Canada’s Official Languages Act, a law first enacted in 1969 that guarantees the equal status of English and French in parliament, the courts and services to the public, however, it provides passengers with announcements in both languages.