By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA--Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday criticized the chief executive of the country's largest airline for issuing an English-only video message following the runway collision at New York's LaGuardia Airport that killed two pilots of an Air Canada Express plane.
Carney said Michael Rousseau, the CEO of Montreal-based Air Canada, exhibited a "lack of judgment, a lack of compassion" by speaking only in English about the fatal accident. Carney said he also wants to hear from Air Canada's board of directors on how they intend to address the matter.
"We proudly live in a bilingual country, and companies like Air Canada particularly have a responsibility to always communicate in both official languages regardless of the situation," Carney said, prior to a weekly meeting of the governing Liberal caucus. "I'm very disappointed, as others are rightly so, in this unilingual message from the CEO of Air Canada."
An Air Canada spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the video posted on social media Monday, Rousseau expressed condolences to employees and families affected in English with French subtitles. The captain and first officer on the plane, operated on behalf of Air Canada by Jazz Aviation, were killed late Sunday night following a collision between the jet and an emergency vehicle.
The pilot of the aircraft, Antoine Forest, lived in Couteau-du-Lac, Quebec, about 30 miles west of Montreal, the town's mayor said in a statement offering her condolences.
Rousseau's inability to speak French caused a public-relations headache for the company in 2021, when the CEO said his work schedule hadn't allowed time for him to learn and master French. At the time, the board chairman said Rousseau had started intensive French training and his language skills would be part of his annual evaluation. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was unacceptable that the airline CEO didn't speak French.
Air Canada, a former state-owned airline that was privatized over three decades ago, is obligated under Canadian law to have its headquarters in Montreal and offer all services in both English and French.
In its 2025 management-proxy circular, the company said six of the seven members of its executive committee are bilingual, and Rousseau "has continued to act on his personal pledge to learn French."
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 25, 2026 11:07 ET (15:07 GMT)
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