Michael Rousseau is a Canadian businessman who is currently the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Air Canada, a position he has held since 2021, but is expected to retire from in 2026. Rosseau joined Air Canada in 2007 after serving as president at the Hudson's Bay Company.
Rousseau was born in Cornwall, Ontario in February 1958, graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and is professionally an accountant. He is unilingual, but both his wife and mother are proficient in French.
Rousseau joined the Hudson's Bay Company as executive vice-president and chief financial officer in 2001. In 2006, he was appointed president of the Hudson's Bay Company before departing in 2007.
Rousseau joined Air Canada on October 22, 2007. He was appointed president and chief executive officer of Air Canada in February 2021.
In 2022, the first year after the federal government lifted restrictions on Air Canada executive compensation, the company reported that Rousseau was paid $12.38-million in salary, stock awards, and bonuses. The figure represented a significant increase from his 2021 compensation, where he was paid around $1 million total, sparking controversy.
In February 2024, he faced criticism from the federal parliament's committee on services for Canadians with disabilities over Air Canada's lack of accessibility. In November 2023, he had made a public apology as CEO after a wave of passenger complaints on accessibility.
In December 2024, he was named chair of the Star Alliance board. Later that month, he faced scrutiny from the federal parliament's transport committee over the airline's decision to end the free carry-on allowance for basic fare classes.
As president of Air Canada, he presided over the 2025 Air Canada flight attendants strike. Steven Tufts of York University criticised Rousseau's role, saying that Air Canada's management exhibited a "lack of strategy and gross mismanagement of the entire situation," in particular that Rousseau had based the company's strategy on assuming that the federal government would not invoke Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to force arbitration.
During his tenure as CEO of Air Canada, Rousseau faced repeated controversies over his inability to speak French.
In May 2023, La Presse reported that the number of formal complaints Air Canada faced under the Official Languages Act had reached its highest level in a decade.
In February 2024, Air Canada's reported that 54% of the thirteen members of its board were capable of speaking some level of French, not including Rousseau. In the same report, the company reported that Rousseau earned around 12 million a year in salary, options, and bonuses.
After the ground incursion accident of Air Canada Express Flight 8646 on 22 March 2026, in a video statement released on X on behalf of the airline, Rousseau expressed his "deepest sorrow for everyone affected" and was "deeply saddened by the loss of two Jazz employees". The video led to 2195 complaints being filed with the Commissioner of the Official Languages Committee, some from politicians in Quebec, due to Rousseau having said only two words in French; the remainder of the statement was delivered in English with French subtitles. On 24 March, Rousseau was summoned to Ottawa to appear before the Official Languages Committee because Air Canada is subject to the Official Languages Act. Carney said that the unilingual response from Rousseau showed "a lack of compassion" and told reporters "[w]e proudly live in a bilingual country, and companies like Air Canada particularly have a responsibility to always communicate in both official languages." The National Assembly in Quebec passed a motion for Rousseau to resign. Rousseau had previously faced complaints in 2021 and 2022 about uniligualism in official communications.
On March 30, 2026, Air Canada's board of directors announced that Rousseau would be retiring by the end of September 2026.