Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau will retire in the fall, the airline’s board of directors announced Monday amid backlash from an English-only condolence video he issued following the collision at LaGuardia Airport that killed two young Air Canada pilots.

Rousseau addressed the families of Capt. Antoine Forest and First Officer Mackenzie Gunther, who were killed when an Air Canada Express regional jet they were landing struck a fire truck on the runway. 

Rousseau’s failure to speak French in the video drew swift condemnation from Canadian lawmakers, who argued it was disrespectful to Quebec’s culture and the families of the pilots. Forest was from Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, where the official language is French.

Air Canada is headquartered in Montreal and requires front-line workers to be capable of offering services in both English and French. Rousseau issued an apology following the video, in which he expressed regret that his “inability to speak French has diverted attention from the profound grief of the families and the great resilience of Air Canada’s employees.” 

The Quebec National Assembly passed a motion last week demanding Rousseau’s resignation. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also criticized Rousseau and called on the airline’s board to make a statement, telling reporters last week the chief executive’s actions demonstrated a lack of judgment.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are looking into why a system meant to warn controllers when vehicles on the ground are in dangerous locations didn’t alert them before the fatal collision on March 22. The fire truck did not have a working transponder, making it harder to track, investigators said.

A preliminary analysis cited the close proximity of vehicles merging near the runway as a possible factor, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said at a press conference last week. The NTSB typically issues a preliminary accident report within 30 days, but a finalized investigation report could take a year or more.

The United States is facing a nationwide air traffic controller shortage, with many major airports operating under their target controller number. The number of air traffic controllers in the U.S. has declined by about 6% in the last decade, according to a January report from the Government Accountability Office. 

Rousseau was appointed CEO of Air Canada in February 2021, following nearly two decades of work with the airline. The board said Monday it launched an external global search for his successor earlier this year in line with its “longstanding focus on CEO succession planning.”

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