Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau continues to face calls to step down following an apology issued Thursday morning for being unable to speak French, but experts believe he will likely keep his job.
On Monday, Rousseau expressed his sadness over the deadly collision at the LaGuardia Airport runway in a four-minute video that only included the French words “bonjour” and “merci.” The video had subtitles in English and French.
Commentators and politicians were outraged that Rousseau — who had previously been criticized for his lack of French at the helm of the company headquartered in Montreal — did not address the matter in French, even when one of the pilots, Antoine Forest, was from Coteau-du-Lac, Que.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he lacked “judgment and compassion” on Wednesday and the Quebec legislature voted on Thursday to demand Rousseau resign.
But observers who spoke with the Star said that while the company should have put more effort into providing the remarks in French, the issue may not be sufficient to cause him to step down.
John Gradek, a lecturer on aviation management at McGill University, believes Air Canada’s brand will take a reputational hit, especially in Quebec.
“You’d expect at least the ability to read off a script or read off a prompter or something, and be able to phonetically say a sentence or two in French,” he said. “They are going to lose some market share in Quebec for sure, and maybe even the rest of Canada.”
But Rousseau has undoubtedly maintained the financial performance of the company, he said.
“There’s no question in my mind that he’s got an A on that one,” Gradek said. “The problem is you need what I call a ‘balanced scorecard’ to maintain your role as a CEO. And there are other elements of that balanced scorecard which Air Canada is failing at.”
Duncan Koerber, an associate professor at Brock University who teaches crisis communication, said organizations should plan for these kinds of situations, including bilingual messaging, but he doesn’t believe it’s reason enough for someone to step down.
“That should have been planned,” he said, adding that perhaps the company could have had a different spokesperson give the remarks in French. “That’s kind of a basic principle of crisis communication.”
But it’s not clear to Koerber just how much the public is outraged, beyond politicians and some media.
“The big deal was the crash of the plane,” he said, adding that dealing with survivors, families of the deceased and finding out what happened should be the company’s priority.
“I don’t think this is a firing offence or reason for the CEO to resign,” he said. “It’s a question of messaging, and I don’t think the question of messaging is a big enough reason for someone to leave the company or to be fired.”
In a statement Thursday, Rousseau reiterated his condolences and addressed the controversy.
“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,” Rousseau said.
“Despite many lessons over several years, unfortunately, I am still unable to express myself adequately in French. I sincerely apologize for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve,” he said.
Air Canada did not respond to the Star’s request for comment.
With files from Alex Ballingall and The Canadian Press
