Air Canada CEO Slammed for Addressing Tragedy in English

Air Canada’s CEO, Michael Rousseau, has been summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee to explain why his condolence message following Sunday night’s fatal crash was delivered almost entirely in English. The video, which runs nearly four minutes, was issued after an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York, resulting in the deaths of two pilots. Rousseau began and ended the message with a brief “bonjour” and “merci,” but the rest of his address was in English with subtitles. The incident drew attention because French is one of Canada’s official languages and the only official language in Quebec, the province where the flight originated. It is also the language spoken by one of the pilots’ families.

The parliamentary language committee has ordered Rousseau to appear by May 1, citing the public backlash. Prime Minister Mark Carney described the decision to issue the message primarily in English as “very disappointing” and emphasized that companies like Air Canada have a duty to communicate in both official languages in all circumstances. Carney added that he expects Air Canada’s board to release a statement addressing the issue. According to CBC, the Commissioner of Official Languages had received 561 complaints about the message by Wednesday morning.

Air Canada defended Rousseau, explaining that he recorded the message quickly before traveling to the crash site and that his French skills are not strong enough to express such sensitive content as he would have wished. The New York Times notes that Rousseau has faced criticism over his French proficiency since becoming CEO in 2021. His appointment had prompted the deputy prime minister to request that Air Canada include his French competency in his annual performance review, a recommendation the airline agreed to implement.

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