Air Canada has named SAS President and Chief Executive Officer Anko Van der Werff as its next CEO, choosing the Dutch executive to lead the Canadian flag carrier after Michael Rousseau retires later this year.
Van der Werff is expected to take over by the end of January 2027 following an international search conducted by Air Canada's board.
His departure comes at a pivotal moment for SAS. During his five years at the airline, Van der Werff led its financial restructuring, oversaw the carrier's emergence from Chapter 11 protection and secured new investment led by Air France-KLM.
Under his leadership, SAS also announced orders for up to 55 Embraer E195-E2 regional jets and, this week, 18 Airbus A330-900 widebodies to support future expansion.
Before joining SAS in 2021, Van der Werff served as chief executive of Avianca and previously held senior commercial positions at Aeroméxico, Qatar Airways and KLM, building more than two decades of experience across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
Air Canada announced Rousseau's retirement in March, days after a fatal Air Canada Express CRJ-900 accident at New York LaGuardia Airport.
The airline said at the time that succession planning had been underway for more than two years, but the announcement followed criticism of Rousseau's response to the accident after he initially addressed the public only in English despite Canada's bilingual status.
Air Canada said French-language proficiency was among the criteria considered during the selection process. Van der Werff, a native of the Netherlands, speaks Dutch, English and French and also has knowledge of Spanish, Italian and Swedish.
