The CEO of a major European airline has emerged as the leading contender to head up Air Canada once Michael Rousseau steps down later this year, according to Bloomberg.
On July 2, 2026, the media outlet cited “people familiar with the matter” in naming the CEO of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Anko van der Werff, as the frontrunner.
After Rousseau was heavily criticized for not speaking French in a video message following the death of two pilots in a crash earlier this year, Air Canada issued a statement declaring that he would retire.
French is recognized as an official language of Canada alongside English, and its status is particularly important at Air Canada, due to the carrier’s deep roots in Montreal.
According to Bloomberg, van der Werff, who has lead SAS for five years, is fluent in Dutch, English and Spanish. In 2021, SAS said van der Werff has a basic understanding of Italian, Swedish and French.
When Rousseau announced his plan for retirement, Air Canada declared it had spent more than two years developing an internal pipeline of senior executives, while also launching an external global search in January 2026.
This week, Van der Werff was front and center at a special media event in Copenhagen, announcing that SAS had placed a firm order with Airbus for 18 A330-900 aircraft.
Van der Werff was previously CEO of Avianca from 2019 to 2021 and Executive Vice President and CCO at Aeroméxico from 2014 to 2019. He also held several management positions at Qatar Airways and AirFrance KLM between 2006 and 2014.