Air Canada has announced the appointment of Anko Van der Werff as the incoming president and CEO, replacing Michael Rousseau, who retired earlier this year after 19 years with the company. Van der Werff, the current president and CEO of Scandinavian Airlines, will assume his new position by January.
Prior to his role at Scandinavian Airlines, Van der Werff served as the CEO of Avianca in South America and held executive positions at Aeromexico, Qatar Airways, and KLM. He has also been involved in various international aviation and business boards.
Rousseau’s retirement comes after a controversial incident involving an English-only condolence message following a fatal collision at New York’s LaGuardia airport. The incident sparked criticism from French-speaking Canadians and government officials, leading to Rousseau’s appearance before the official languages committee in Ottawa.
Expressing regret for the distraction caused by his language skills, Rousseau acknowledged his efforts to improve his French proficiency but admitted his limitations in the official language. Van der Werff’s selection followed a rigorous global search process by Air Canada, emphasizing the importance of French language skills among other criteria.
Van der Werff, a native of the Netherlands, is fluent in Dutch and has a working knowledge of French, in addition to English, Spanish, Italian, and Swedish. Air Canada’s website offers both English and French versions of a statement from Van der Werff, underscoring the company’s commitment to bilingual service for Canadians.