Anko Van der Werff
Anko van der Werff, chief executive of Scandinavian Airlines System, has emerged as the frontrunner for the job of Air Canada CEO, according to published reports.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that the Dutch lawyer and businessman is the favourite to replace Michael Rousseau, who announced in March that he would step down this year.
investing.com said the appointment of van der Werff “would place a seasoned airline turnaround specialist atop a carrier whose stock is trading at roughly half its pre-pandemic level and whose financial guidance remains suspended.”
Rousseau’s departure was triggered by a public and political backlash over a corporate video he recorded in the wake of a fatal aircraft accident that killed two Air Canada pilots at LaGuardia Airport in New York. The video was almost entirely in English, which prompted severe criticism from Francophones.
Bloomberg said van der Werff speaks Dutch, English, and Spanish, but “carries only a basic understanding of French,” which could be a significant problem for a Montreal-based company such as Air Canada.
investing.com said van der Werff has led SAS for approximately five years, helping the Scandinavian airline emerge from bankruptcy and restore operations following the pandemic’s devastating impact on air travel.
Before his time at SAS he served as CEO of Colombian carrier Avianca between 2019 and 2021, and held senior roles at Grupo Aeromexico, Qatar Airways, and Air France-KLM, “giving him rare breadth across both emerging-market and legacy-carrier environments.”
Air Canada has not commented on the issue, and earlier reports suggest that internal candidates where also being considered for the role.