THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE of Air Canada will be stepping down from his role later this year after he attracted widespread criticism for delivering an English-only video condolence message after two of the airline’s pilots were killed in an airport collision.

The two pilots were killed in a collision on 22 March between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

Canada’s two official languages are English and French. One of the pilots killed in the collision was reportedly from the French-speaking region of Quebec.

The company’s CEO Michael Rousseau earlier issued an apology for the English-only message, saying he was sorry his limited French “has diverted attention from the profound grief of the families”.

“Despite many lessons over several years, unfortunately, I am still unable to express myself adequately in French,” he said in a statement.

“I sincerely apologise for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve.”

The message was also criticised by Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, who said like others he was “very disappointed” in the unilingual message, which he said showed a “lack of judgement and a lack of compassion”.

Rousseau will retire by the end of the third quarter of this year, the airline said. It is looking for a replacement.

“The Board will consider a number of performance criteria in assessing candidates including the ability to communicate in French,” it said.

Air Canada is the country’s largest airline and is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec — Canada’s traditionally French-speaking region. The company is required to offer services in both languages.

Additional reporting by AFP