One of the pilots, Antoine Forest, was a French-speaking Quebecer, while the other, Mackenzie Gunther, had English as his mother tongue. The Canadian Prime Minister himself, Mark Carney said the absence of a message in French demonstrated a lack of compassion and common sense, saying people were right to be “very disappointed”.
There were hundreds of complaints regarding the incident. The head of the Government of Quebec, François Legault, demanded the CEO’s resignation, remembering that he had promised to learn French when he took office in 2021.
Rousseau apologized, saying he was saddened that his limited French had “diverted attention from the profound sadness” of the victims’ families. “Despite many lessons over several years, unfortunately, I still cannot express myself adequately in French,” he said. “I sincerely apologize for this, but I will continue to strive to improve.”
But the pressure would have been greater and Air’s Board of Directors Canada announced today that Rousseau has communicated his desire to leave, after more than 20 years with the airline. “On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Mike for his countless contributions to Air Canada, from his journey as Chief Financial Officer to Deputy CEO and then CEO and Board Member,” said Chairman of the Board of Directors Vagn Sørensen. in a statement.
“We are grateful for the determined leadership he demonstrated, not only in steering our company through the 2007-2008 financial crisis, COVID-19 and other challenges, but also in seizing opportunities such as the acquisition of Aeroplan, restoring the solvency of our pension plans and advancing customer focus and employee well-being priorities“, he added.
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