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Air Canada ceo to quit over “English-only” message after New York plane crash
English-only condolence video after fatal LaGuardia crash triggers outrage in Quebec and hastens succession
MONTREAL: Air Canada’s boss is heading for the exit after a linguistic misstep collided with a national faultline.
Michael Rousseau will retire by October, the airline said on Monday, days after a backlash over his English-only video tribute following a deadly crash involving an Air Canada Express jet in New York. The March 22 collision with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport killed two pilots and injured dozens, but Rousseau’s message, bookended only by “bonjour” and “merci”, ignited fury in French-speaking Quebec.
Mark Carney welcomed the departure, calling the video a “lack of judgment and lack of compassion”. “It is absolutely essential that his successor is completely bilingual,” he said in Toronto. “He did a good job technically as CEO but as the leader of an organisation you have broader responsibilities. It’s the right decision at the right time.”
The row quickly metastasised. Quebec’s National Assembly voted 92–0 for Rousseau to quit. More than 1,800 complaints flooded the federal languages watchdog. Even Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a major shareholder, weighed in. “There is no doubt that the video should have been in both official languages.”
The symbolism cut deep. One of the dead pilots, Antoine Forest, was from Quebec. Language, long a live wire in the province, remains entwined with identity and politics, fuelling the separatist Parti Québécois ahead of an election due by October.
Rousseau, 68, had form. In 2021, soon after taking charge, he drew fire for delivering a Montreal speech largely in English and boasting he had lived there for years without speaking French. He apologised then and again last week, saying he was “deeply saddened” his limitations had “diverted attention from the profound grief of the families and the great resilience of Air Canada’s employees.” He had logged more than 300 hours of French lessons since taking the helm in February 2021.
Operationally, his tenure was steadier. He steered Air Canada through the pandemic and its messy aftermath, though labour tensions, most notably a four-day cabin crew strike, dogged the recovery. Shares slipped more than 2 per cent after the news before trimming losses to about 1.2 per cent on the Toronto exchange.
The airline, bound by the Official Languages Act to serve customers in both English and French, said it is accelerating a succession plan already under way, with candidates to be judged in part on their French. Analysts say the next chief must pair operational discipline with strategic clarity amid fuel volatility, labour costs and fierce competition.
A dual crisis—metal on tarmac in New York and politics at home—has now claimed its most senior scalp. In Canada’s flag carrier, competence got Rousseau far. In the end, fluency finished the job.
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Senior leaders exit Deloitte India amid shift in M&A strategy
Rival firms gain ground as Deloitte refocuses on high-value mergers and acquisitions
NEW DELHI: Deloitte has seen a series of senior departures in recent weeks, marking a period of transition as the firm recalibrates its mergers and acquisitions business, according to an Economic Times report. These exits follow a strategic shift in the firm’s advisory approach, which has increasingly focused on larger, high-value transactions.
The executives who have resigned include Rajesh Aggarwal, head of debt advisory, Ruchi Sarna, national head of consumer investment banking, and Suresh Atal, a senior partner in transaction advisory, according to the report. Industry sources indicate that Rajesh Aggarwal and Suresh Atal are likely to join PwC, while Sarna is also expected to move to a competing firm.
This movement follows a significant change in Deloitte’s leadership and focus over the past two years. After Rohit Berry joined from KPMG as president of the vertical, the firm began prioritising deals valued at over $250 million. Berry was accompanied by senior executives Vivek Gupta and Manish Aggarwal, leading to a larger migration of over 200 professionals from KPMG to Deloitte.
The competitive landscape remains fluid. PwC recently appointed Anmol Bhandari, a former Deloitte executive, as head of its transaction services vertical, reinforcing its dealmaking ambitions.
In the professional services sector, senior departures often trigger further team movements, suggesting that more staff may follow these leaders to their new firms.
Despite these exits, Deloitte is actively looking to rebuild its ranks. According to the report, the firm is currently looking to hire between six and nine partners to address gaps in its debt advisory team as it aggressively seeks fresh talent to maintain its market position.
As the major accounting firms continue to compete for leadership, the hierarchy of the Indian advisory market is shifting. While Deloitte has successfully recruited heavily from its rivals in the past, it now faces the challenge of retaining its own senior experts as they are courted by competitors like PwC.
