Air Canada Heads Into Winter Between CEOs and With Plenty To Prove

Tomorrow is Michael Rousseau’s final morning in front of Air Canada analysts – and the first real look at how the airline plans to navigate the winter without him. When the carrier reports second-quarter results before the market opens on Wednesday, it will be the last set of numbers he presents after five years as CEO and nearly two decades at the airline. Rousseau retires August 31. His successor, SAS chief executive Anko van der Werff, doesn't arrive until January, meaning Air Canada heads into its toughest trading season without a permanent chief executive in place. The market is already prepared for a heavy fall in profit. On April 30, Air Canada guided second-quarter adjusted earnings to between C$575–725 million (US$412–520m) against the C$909 million ($US652m) it earned in the same quarter of 2025. It pulled its full-year outlook altogether. Beyond the headline numbers, here are five areas we'll be watching on Wednesday: 1. Can A