Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau is stepping down following a backlash over a video statement he made almost entirely in English after a fatal plane crash in which he was criticized for not using Montreal's official language of French. The statement was made in response to thousands of complaints filed with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages in Canada. Rousseau, who became CEO in 2021, has served in top positions at the airline for nearly two decades and plans to retire by the end of the third quarter of 2026. His resignation follows widespread outrage in Quebec, where the provincial legislature voted in favor of a motion calling for him to leave the company. The crash at LaGuardia Airport on March 22 killed both pilots and hospitalized 41 others.