There’s a rumoured contender for the top job at Air Canada – the current President and CEO of SAS, Anko van der Werff.

Bloomberg says industry insiders point to van der Werff as the leading candidate, however there are potential hurdles, including possible conflict of interest concerns from SAS shareholders. SAS is partially owned by Air France KLM, a major competitor for Air Canada on the transatlantic market.

There’s also the language issue. Back in March, Air Canada’s President and CEO, Michael Rousseau, announced that he would retire by the end of the third quarter of 2026, after nearly two decades with the airline. The news came after Rousseau received backlash for his English-only message of condolence following the AC8646 collision at LaGuardia Airport. Rousseau’s lack of proficient French has dogged him for years.

According to reports, van der Werff, who is a Dutch national, has only basic French. The multilingual airline industry veteran does speak Dutch, English and Spanish. Prior to joining SAS, van der Werff was CEO of Avianca from 2019 to 2021. Other airlines on his resume include Grupo Aeromexico, Qatar Airways and Air France KLM.

Source: Travelweek
Lead image caption: Anko van der Werff (photo courtesy SAS)