Air Canada president and CEO Calin Rovinescu is retiring on Feb. 15 after more than a decade at the helm of the carrier.
Rovinescu has served as CEO since April 2009, taking over after a surprise resignation of former president and CEO Montie Brewer. With Air Canada on the brink of bankruptcy when Rovinescu stepped in, he since led a transformation of the airline "into a sustainable, global aviation industry leader," according to Air Canada board of directors chair Vagn Sørensen.
"Under his leadership, Skytrax has named Air Canada the best airline in North America eight times in the last 10 years, while The Globe and Mail reported that Air Canada was the best performing stock on the TSX, in all industrial categories, over the decade ending Dec. 31, 2019, with a total shareholder return exceeding 3600 percent," Sørensen said in a statement.
Rovinescu previously oversaw Air Canada's bankruptcy reorganization in 2003 as chief restructuring officer, after which he left to form Canadian investment bank Genuity Capital Markets.
Air Canada CFO Michael Rousseau, who has been in the position since 2007 and also was named deputy CEO in December 2018, will succeed Rovinescu.
"Mike Rousseau has been a key member of our leadership team since the beginning of our transformation, as well as an invaluable partner and sounding board for me on virtually all aspects of our journey over the last 12 years," Rovinescu said in a statement. "He knows all of our strengths and opportunities and how we can lean into them."