What to know
- Air Canada Express Flight AC8646 crashed into a firetruck at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night, killing both pilots and injuring dozens of passengers.
- CEO Michael Rousseau released a video statement addressing the crash in English only, with bilingual subtitles — drawing widespread criticism from French Canadians.
- Air Canada is legally required to offer bilingual services under Canada’s Official Languages Act, a commitment the airline says it has honoured for over 50 years.
Air Canada’s CEO is under fire for issuing an English-only response to the deadly plane crash in New York earlier this week, drawing criticism from French Canadians who say they felt excluded and disrespected.
On Sunday night, Air Canada Express Flight AC8646, operated by Jazz Aviation, en route from Montreal to New York, crashed at LaGuardia Airport. The aircraft collided with a firetruck near 11:40 p.m. and killed both pilots, leaving dozens of passengers injured.
Since then, Air Canada’s CEO, Michael Rousseau, posted a video statement online addressing the incident. The message, however, was only spoken in English with bilingual subtitles. The unilingual message has left French Canadians hurt, especially as it fails to follow Air Canada’s Official Language Act.
Read More
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke about the video in a conference. “I’m very disappointed in, as others rightly so, in this unilingual message of the CEO of Air Canada,” he said “Particularly in these circumstances, the lack of judgement and lack of compassion.”
Carney also mentioned that companies like Air Canada have the responsibility to always communicate in both official languages.
Air Canada President and CEO Michael Rousseau provides a video statement on the tragic accident involving Air Canada Express AC8646: pic.twitter.com/ZwFibpOkj2
— Air Canada (@AirCanada) March 23, 2026
In response to Air Canada’s statement, French Canadians came flooding in the comments section on social media. One X user questioned, “Why is the message only in English? The pilot is from Quebec and a message in French would be appropriate.” Another user added, “Considering one or both pilot families were French-speaking, you should have done it in French and English.”
Another X user criticized, “Wow, ‘bonjour’ and ‘merci’… only words you can say in French? You’re not supposed to be bilingual?” But one user specifically mentioned, “One of the pilots was from Saguenay (QC).”
Note: The author of this article is French Canadian, with French as her first language, and has translated the following quote from French to English.
The user continues, “Out of respect [for the pilot], you should speak in French (and it’s mandated by Air Canada’s chart.)”
It’s a requirement for the airline to offer bilingual services. According to Air Canada’s website, “Air Canada is proud to offer bilingual services in the country’s two official languages: English and French. We are the only airline in Canada with official languages obligations under the Official Languages Act (OLA), and we have honoured those obligations with steadfast commitment for more than 50 years, in a highly complex industry across a vast international network.”
The only exception came in 2023, when it applied to those learning French, who wore a pin indicating their language journey.
