The rise and legacy of Pierre Jeanniot – from technician to president and CEO of Air Canada

Pierre Jeanniot, who as president and chief executive of Air Canada spearheaded the privatization of the Crown-owned airline in 1988 and had ambitions for it to become a global player only to be pushed into early retirement by a restive board of directors, died on June 22 at 92.

A self-made man who arrived in Canada from France as a teenager with his mother, he attended university at night, joined Air Canada as a technician and spent years climbing through the ranks. He broke barriers at the airline, becoming the first francophone to head the traditional anglophone enclave.