Air Canada’s chief executive, Michael Rousseau, apologized on Thursday for expressing condolences only in English in a country that is officially bilingual after two of his airline’s pilots were killed on Sunday in a collision at LaGuardia Airport.
Politicians had called for Mr. Rousseau’s resignation after a four-minute condolence video posted online on Monday included only two French words, “bonjour” and “merci,” though subtitles were provided in both languages. Canada has two official languages, English and French.
“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,” Mr. Rousseau, a native English speaker, said in a statement.
Hours after his apology, the National Assembly in Ottawa voted in favor of a motion calling for the resignation of Mr. Rousseau, saying that his inability to speak French showed a lack of respect for French-speaking Canadians.
The airline said on Thursday afternoon that Mr. Rousseau would remain in his position.
“In a crisis such as the one we are currently facing following the tragic accident at LaGuardia, in which two pilot lives were lost, and which occurred at a time of significant fuel price volatility, it is important that Mr. Rousseau be at the helm to lead the company,” Christophe Hennebelle, a spokesman for Air Canada, said in an emailed statement.
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, on Wednesday said “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. I’m very disappointed.”
François Legault, the premier of Quebec, a French-speaking province whose population is second only to Ontario’s, called on Mr. Rousseau to resign on Wednesday. The airline, the country’s largest, has many French-speaking employees and customers, he said.
“If he still does not speak French today, it’s a lack of respect toward his employees and his Francophone clients,” Mr. Legault said, adding that Mr. Rousseau had promised to learn French when he became the airline’s chief executive in 2021.
Mr. Rousseau was contrite, and lamented his lack of French language skills.
“Despite many lessons over several years, unfortunately, I am still unable to express myself adequately in French,” he said in his statement. “I sincerely apologize for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve.”
Air Canada is subject to bilingualism laws because it had been a state-owned company before it was privatized in the 1980s. It is mandated by law to serve customers in both languages. The airline is headquartered in Montreal, which is primarily French-speaking.
The plane took off from Montreal Trudeau International Airport in Quebec before it crashed into a fire truck on Sunday at LaGuardia Airport in New York. One of the plane’s pilots, Antoine Forest, was from Quebec.
“We just have to remember that people died in this tragic accident, and all my thoughts are with the families,” Montreal’s mayor, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, said at a news conference on Wednesday. “Now he has a responsibility to respect the people and our Francophone community. He didn’t do that, and I think he lost the respect of our Francophone community.”
Mr. Hennebelle said in a statement that Mr. Rousseau’s “primary aim was to speak in person” after the crash. “He therefore recorded a message as a matter of priority before departing on a flight for the crash site,” he said.
French is the sole official language of Quebec, and it is spoken by more than 84 percent of people. Much of the population of nine million is sensitive about the rising influence of English.
Canada’s office of the commissioner of official languages had received about 1,800 complaints by early Thursday afternoon about the video, in which Mr. Rousseau opened with “Hello, bonjour,” and closed with “Thank you, merci.” A spokeswoman for the office, Isabelle Arseneau, said it was determining if the complaints were admissible.
Raymond Théberge, who retired in January as commissioner, said in his departing message that the French language was under assault.
“The crushing international influence of English impacts everything we say and do in French,” he wrote, “especially in an environment increasingly dominated by American English-language cultural content that is boosted by algorithms and artificial intelligence in the online information and news media age.”
Adeel Hassan, a New York-based reporter for The Times, covers breaking news and other topics.
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