Air Canada CEO Faces Backlash for English-Only Condolence

0:00It's March 25th. This is Global News today, your AI-powered source for world news. A tragic collision at La Guardia Airport in New York killed two air-candidate pilots on Sunday night when their plane from Montreal hit a fire truck right. After landing, the pilots were 30-year-old Antoine Forrest from Quebec and McKenzie Gunther. Dozens of passengers got hurt, with six still in the hospital. Air Canada's CEO, Michael Russo, put out a video condolence message in English only, even though it had subtitles in both languages. This sparked a big backlash in Canada, a bilingual country where English and French are official languages. Airlines like Air Canada must communicate in both under federal law. Prime Minister Mark Carney called the move a lack of compassion, especially since one pilot was a French-speaking Quebecer. Quebec premier François LaGold demanded Russo resign if he can't speak French and others labeled it disrespectful to the families.

1:00Russo, who lives in Montreal but speaks mainly English, faced similar criticism when he became CEO in 2021. He has until May 1st to appear before Parliamentary Committee on official languages to explain himself. Meanwhile, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are digging into the crash, reviewing final communications that cleared both. The plane and fire truck on the runway, the focus stays on honoring the pilots while sorting out these language issues.