Canadian Airport Thread II

[LO 044]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Linguistic politics claim another victim:

Air Canada CEO to retire after condolence-video controversy
20 minutes ago
Nadine Yousif
Senior Canada reporter

The CEO of Air Canada will retire later this year, after being criticised for failing to speak French in a condolence video following last week's fatal collision at LaGuardia Airport that killed two of the airline's pilots.….

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgme8xy2rl1o

Typical provincial "stupidity" but we all know why the politicians line up for this stuff. The votes are in Ontario and Quebec enough said. Let's be honest. I can admit some of the stupidity in my province as long as everyone is honest about theirs.

If the below is correct than this is one smart cookie that AC is letting go. "Rousseau is widely seen as playing an instrumental role in changing Air Canada’s financial trajectory by boosting its profit margin, share price and pension plan, which moved from a $3.7-billion deficit in 2013 to a $2.6-billion surplus in 2019."
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/...n-wake-of-criticism-over-lack-of-french/

BTW the WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech should also get canned because he has an accent when speaking English and I'm offended so...

[nname]

Maybe the next CEO starts cutting service in YUL and move everything back to YYZ to create a mega hub.

But it doesn't matter to the people in Quebec, as long as the CEO speaks French, right?

[harls]

The guy moved to Quebec when he was 45. He's 64 now. And has a French speaking wife.

He simply doesn't care to learn the language. Which sorta makes him a privileged — in my books.

[Glow Fun City]

Originally Posted by harls

The guy moved to Quebec when he was 45. He's 64 now. And has a French speaking wife.

He simply doesn't care to learn the language. Which sorta makes him a privileged — in my books.

Especially if you've got the last name "Rousseau"… people will expect it

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by harls

The guy moved to Quebec when he was 45. He's 64 now. And has a French speaking wife.

He simply doesn't care to learn the language. Which sorta makes him a privileged — in my books.

All the more reason to abolish the Air Canada Public Participation Act so they can move their official HQ to Toronto where it should be,

[harls]

Originally Posted by whatnext

All the more reason to abolish the Air Canada Public Participation Act so they can move their official HQ to Toronto where it should be,

Yeah, that will improve service. Can't wait for my pretzel or cookie offering to be reduced to 'complementary fart cloth' for your face.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by harls

Yeah, that will improve service. Can't wait for my pretzel or cookie offering to be reduced to 'complementary fart cloth' for your face.

Uh, —?

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by whatnext

All the more reason to abolish the Air Canada Public Participation Act so they can move their official HQ to Toronto where it should be,

The odds of that happening are probably only about 1/10 as good as me winning the next Lotto Max jackpot.

[SignalHillHiker]

Deer Lake's offering for the upcoming season. They also get charter flights for our commuter workforce that rotates in and out of northern Alberta.

[whatnext]

I had thought the descriptions of the flight attendant's injuries from the LaGuardia crash as a "broken leg" seemed miraculously light. An update:

Flight attendant injured in LaGuardia crash continues recovery as GoFundMe page raises over $188,000
Eric Atkins Transportation reporter
Published Yesterday
Updated 13 hours ago
For Subscribers

...Ms. Tremblay was one of two flight attendants on board Flight 8646. She was in her seat near the front of the plane and suffered severe injuries when she was thrown 320 feet on impact, according to the fundraiser.

“My mom was conscious for all of this,” Ms. Lépine and cousin Johannes Verbeek wrote on the page. “She continues to fight and recover at a hospital in New York.”...

...Ms. Solange’s injuries include two shattered legs that require multiple surgeries, and a broken spine, her daughter wrote. She needs skin grafts for injuries she suffered sliding on the tarmac, and has already received one blood transfusion.

“My mom has suffered so much from this event and regrettably her struggles are far from over,” Ms. Lépine wrote. “She will have to undergo several other surgeries, along with intensive rehabilitation to learn how to walk again.”

Her mother will remain in New York for the foreseeable future, she said....(bold mine)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business...-188000-for-air-canada-flight-attendant/

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by hollywoodcory

YYC February 2026 Stats

Domestic: 858,074 +2.7% (YTD: 1,751,556 +2.5%)
Transborder: 234,179 -12.1% (YTD: 474,722 -9.8%)
International: 224,050 +10.0% (YTD: 462,517 +11.2%)

February 2026 total: 1,316,303 +0.8%
2026 YTD: 2,688,795 +1.4%

Nice to see the numbers keep rising. I wonder if International totals will pass transborder totals for 2026?

[cyeg66]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I had thought the descriptions of the flight attendant's injuries from the LaGuardia crash as a "broken leg" seemed miraculously light. An update:

Flight attendant injured in LaGuardia crash continues recovery as GoFundMe page raises over $188,000
Eric Atkins Transportation reporter
Published Yesterday
Updated 13 hours ago
For Subscribers

...Ms. Tremblay was one of two flight attendants on board Flight 8646. She was in her seat near the front of the plane and suffered severe injuries when she was thrown 320 feet on impact, according to the fundraiser.

“My mom was conscious for all of this,” Ms. Lépine and cousin Johannes Verbeek wrote on the page. “She continues to fight and recover at a hospital in New York.”...

...Ms. Solange’s injuries include two shattered legs that require multiple surgeries, and a broken spine, her daughter wrote. She needs skin grafts for injuries she suffered sliding on the tarmac, and has already received one blood transfusion.

“My mom has suffered so much from this event and regrettably her struggles are far from over,” Ms. Lépine wrote. “She will have to undergo several other surgeries, along with intensive rehabilitation to learn how to walk again.”

Her mother will remain in New York for the foreseeable future, she said....(bold mine)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business...-188000-for-air-canada-flight-attendant/

Brutal. I hope that poor lady can make a remarkable recovery. 100% might be asking a little much.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by J81

Politicians in Quebec. Not anywhere else because nobody really gives two shits whether the CEO of Air Canada spoke french in his address except people pandering to Quebec II think youre missing the point. He didnt have to do it nor did politicians have to draw attention away from those two young pilots for political theater. They are indeed the real idiots.

Yes he did have to do it. And of course the politicians will draw attention to it. There is only 1 idiot in all of this. Rousseau.

Originally Posted by whatnext

Linguistic politics claim another victim:

Hardly the case. Apparently, he was going to retire soon anyway. The process to replace him was already started well before this fiasco.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-ceo-michael-rousseau-retires-9.7146886

"Mr. Rousseau has reached a natural retirement age. His decision is consistent with the Board's longstanding focus on CEO executive succession planning," a process that has been underway for more than two years internally, an airline spokesperson told CBC News in a statement.

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Somewhat ironic that Carney and the Quebec ilk do not hold the GG to the same level of linguistic purity.

Come again?

https://globalnews.ca/news/8039614/governor-general-mary-simon-official-languages-investigation/

https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/...of-her-french-skills-after-quebec-visit/

Mark Carney might not have commented, but the "Quebec ilk" you speak of surely has.

And just to be clear, Mary Simon should have never been appointed GG of Canada. The GG should always be fully bilingual in both official languages of Canada.

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

And this is the issue.

What is the most important quality in running a world class airline - corporate acumen or bilingualism.

I would argue the former. Some on this forum would disagree and suggest the overarching concern is the quality of their French language skills (because we all know that if the president of AC attempted valiantly to offer condolences in butchered French, that the howls of outrage would be horrific).

Having corporate acumen in a bilingual country like Canada - and working for an airline like AC - means knowing that you need to be able to converse in french, at least on a limited/basic level.

Rousseau didn't have that acumen. AC will be better off without him.

Originally Posted by Ozabald

I nominate Justin Trudeau as the next CEO of Air Canada. Though he has no clue about how to operate an airline, he is bilingual and understands social media. That all which matters.

Curious if all the AC board of directors speak French. If not, they should resign. I wonder if Rob Fyfe, board member from Auckland, NZ speaks French?

AC's BoD are not customer facing employees. AC's CEO is. His video addressing the crash was directed at us, the customers/clients/victims.

Originally Posted by LO 044

If the below is correct than this is one smart cookie that AC is letting go. "Rousseau is widely seen as playing an instrumental role in changing Air Canada’s financial trajectory by boosting its profit margin, share price and pension plan, which moved from a $3.7-billion deficit in 2013 to a $2.6-billion surplus in 2019."
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/...n-wake-of-criticism-over-lack-of-french/

BTW the WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech should also get canned because he has an accent when speaking English and I'm offended so...

smart cookie? Lol

He's an idiot. AC is better off without him.

And btw, just so we're clear, AVH should also be canned, for a myriad of other reasons. He's another idiot.

Originally Posted by harls

The guy moved to Quebec when he was 45. He's 64 now. And has a French speaking wife.

He simply doesn't care to learn the language. Which sorta makes him a privileged — in my books.

Agree 100%.

Originally Posted by whatnext

All the more reason to abolish the Air Canada Public Participation Act so they can move their official HQ to Toronto where it should be,

Out of the 37,000 employees AC has, only a bit more than 10,000 are in Quebec.

AC's operational HQ (operational centre) is already in Toronto, on Ironbridge road, in Mississauga.

So for all intents and purposes, AC is already a Toronto centric company.

Originally Posted by nname

Maybe the next CEO starts cutting service in YUL and move everything back to YYZ to create a mega hub.

But it doesn't matter to the people in Quebec, as long as the CEO speaks French, right?

Of course it matters for Quebec.

Besides, YYZ is at capacity. No room to handle all the frames based out of YUL. Also, AC's strategy to build up YUL these past 15 years is one of the reasons for their recent success.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by harls

reduced to 'complementary fart cloth' for your face.

[casper]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Yes he did have to do it. And of course the politicians will draw attention to it. There is only 1 idiot in all of this. Rousseau.

Hardly the case. Apparently, he was going to retire soon anyway. The process to replace him was already started well before this fiasco.

It may be morbid to think about it this way. But this should have been pre-planned to a large extent.

The crisis management team and the CEO office should have had a playbook ready to go. The nature or the plane crash, where and the details of how would have been unknown.

If the CEO could not communicate in French appropriately, he should have been in the video with another executive by his side and the two should have alternated executing on their communication plan.

Given it was a flight that originate in a French speaking part of the country with a crew from the same region and a good percentage of the passengers and their family from Quebec. They failed in their communication strategy before they even posted the video.

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Having corporate acumen in a bilingual country like Canada - and working for an airline like AC - means knowing that you need to be able to converse in french, at least on a limited/basic level.

Rousseau didn't have that acumen. AC will be better off without him.

AC's BoD are not customer facing employees. AC's CEO is. His video addressing the crash was directed at us, the customers/clients/victims.

It was a complete failure of this communication team. This was not some rushed thing.

Any company that size has an enterprise risk registry that the CEO reviewed with the board on a regular basis. A crash would have to be somewhere on their and organisation would have a response plan ready to go.

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

And btw, just so we're clear, AVH should also be canned, for a myriad of other reasons. He's another idiot.

He does not understand Canada. WestJet would be well served with someone who does.

[Dominion301]

YQB's undertaking a $50 million renovation and expansion of their domestic arrivals area: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/in...ance-passenger-experience-804621271.html

Work on the NICE project will begin in April 2026 and continue through to 2028. It will include:

- The installation of a third baggage carousel dedicated to domestic flights
- The reconstruction of gates 28 and 29
- The upgrade of gate 28 to accommodate larger aircraft
- The creation of a new baggage and cargo unloading area
- The reorganization of the baggage claim areas
- The addition of new facilities for partners with airside access
- The reorganization of the conference room
- The renovation of restroom facilities and the creation of new restrooms
- The addition of 4,500 m² across two levels

[LO 044]

I'm not qualified to review AC's yearly business results. That's why I posted the CTV article. This guy has been at AC for almost 20 years! What does that tell you? He may not have done everything right but he must have done a lot right. It's amazing that 2 people were killed in what seems like an avoidable accident but the French language takes precedence.

A couple of more interesting articles.
https://globalnews.ca/news/11752883/elon-musk-air-canada-ceo-resignation-michael-rousseau/
Canada has become the poster child for victimhood. People identify themselves as victims and we continue to treat them that way and the spiral continues. Quebec loves to throw out the French language as "losing their culture" just like parts of the Middle East like to throw out that stoning a woman in the town square is part of their "culture". People skirt common sense by using victimhood and culture. Remember when kids wanted to bring ceremonial knives to school? We're not a bilingual country at all. I can't speak for Ontario or provinces east of Quebec but my local 7-11 worker is not bilingual nor is my realtor. So make specific rules for parts of the country but don't let one company have to adhere to different rules.

This article is interesting.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyv1q9gz39do
"Canadian author Jack Jedwab wrote in French language newspaper La Presse that Rousseau's lack of French knowledge sends a message to Air Canada employees that "bilingualism is a constraint, not a value"."
Unfortunately bilingualism is a constraint to AC but only because they're stuck behind a socialist/communist clause for one province. I can argue that I don't like it but the biggest beef is that it is not implemented to WestJet or Porter. Correct me if i'm wrong on this.

As for this comment, "Also, AC's strategy to build up YUL these past 15 years is one of the reasons for their recent success." Oh so people are happy with this aspect which has dramatically increased traffic at YUL and increased the amount of employees in that Province. So he's an idiot unless he has done something for Quebec.

[casper]

Originally Posted by LO 044

I'm not qualified to review AC's yearly business results. That's why I posted the CTV article. This guy has been at AC for almost 20 years! What does that tell you? He may not have done everything right but he must have done a lot right. It's amazing that 2 people were killed in what seems like an avoidable accident but the French language takes precedence.

By all accounts the death of the two pilots was caused by an air traffic control/management problem. Not something that happened at Air Canada or Jazz. Well outside of Air Canada control. The investigation will continue and we will see what comes of it.

Originally Posted by LO 044

A couple of more interesting articles.
https://globalnews.ca/news/11752883/elon-musk-air-canada-ceo-resignation-michael-rousseau/
Canada has become the poster child for victimhood. People identify themselves as victims and we continue to treat them that way and the spiral continues. Quebec loves to throw out the French language as "losing their culture" just like parts of the Middle East like to throw out that stoning a woman in the town square is part of their "culture". People skirt common sense by using victimhood and culture. Remember when kids wanted to bring ceremonial knives to school? We're not a bilingual country at all. I can't speak for Ontario or provinces east of Quebec but my local 7-11 worker is not bilingual nor is my realtor. So make specific rules for parts of the country but don't let one company have to adhere to different rules.

We are talking advise on being a good corporate citizen from Elon Musk?

While I don't live in Quebec, I accept the fact Air Canada wants to be a national airline. French is one of the two national languages. It should be reasonable to expect the CEO to speak both languages.

WestJet and Porter are also national airlines and provide service in both languages. Sometimes (ok many times in the WestJet) that involves playing a recorded message in French in flight, but that is ok.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by LO 044

As for this comment, "Also, AC's strategy to build up YUL these past 15 years is one of the reasons for their recent success." Oh so people are happy with this aspect which has dramatically increased traffic at YUL and increased the amount of employees in that Province. So he's an idiot unless he has done something for Quebec.

Rousseau started at AC in 2007 as Chief financial officer, and he held that role for 12 years. His role was mostly to strenghten finances and improve shareholder value. He's not the one that handled route development and fleet strategy at AC.

That honour goes to another Air Canada manager/exec - who is trilingual like me, and is perfectly fluent in english and french - and who has held a role in AC's network and fleet strategy since 2004. His name is Mark Galardo.

Rousseau has done nothing for Quebec, and cleary doesn't give 2 shits about Quebec or its language.

[J81]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Rousseau started at AC in 2007 as Chief financial officer, and he held that role for 12 years. His role was mostly to strenghten finances and improve shareholder value. He's not the one that handled route development and fleet strategy at AC.

That honour goes to another Air Canada manager/exec - who is trilingual like me, and is perfectly fluent in english and french - and who has held a role in AC's network and fleet strategy since 2004. His name is Mark Galardo.

Rousseau has done nothing for Quebec, and cleary doesn't give 2 shits about Quebec or its language.

Spoken like a true Quebecer!