MONTREAL – Air Canada has named Scandinavian Airlines head Anko Van der Werff as the Canadian airline’s next chief executive.
The Montreal-based airline says Van der Werff will assume the job and join Air Canada’s board of directors by the end of January 2027.
Air Canada chair Vagn Sorensen said Van der Werff brings an exceptional breadth of international aviation experience and a proven 25-year track record.
“We are confident he will drive further value-creating growth and transformation while maintaining our commitment to disciplined capital allocation,” Sorensen said in a news release.
Van der Werff succeeds Michael Rousseau, who is set to retire effective Aug. 31 after 19 years with the airline and five as its CEO. Air Canada says that after Rousseau’s departure and for the transition period, the airline’s executive committee will report to the board of directors.
Before joining SAS in 2021, Van der Werff was chief executive of Avianca, a leading airline in Latin America. He also was chief commercial officer at Aeromexico and held senior leadership positions at Qatar Airways in addition to a number of management roles at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
As a native of the Netherlands, Air Canada says Van der Werff speaks Dutch and is also able to communicate in French and English, adding that he has also learned Spanish, Italian and Swedish at different levels over the course of his career.
Rousseau was widely criticized for his lack of ability to communicate in French and announced his retirement earlier this year after coming under fire for failing to deliver a video condolence message in French following a plane crash that killed two Air Canada Express pilots.
The four-minute condolence video posted online included only two words in the language — “bonjour” and “merci.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the decision to release the video message only in English showed a “lack of judgment and lack of compassion” while Quebec Premier François Legault called the video disrespectful to the airline’s employees and its francophone customers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2026.
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