by Jim Byers
Last updated: 8:40 AM ET, Wed May 26, 2021
Legendary Canadian businessman Jean-Marc Eustache is stepping down from his role at Transat. And Canada has a woman at the helm of one of its national airlines.
Transat A.T. Inc. announces today the implementation of the succession plan set up for Jean-Marc Eustache, who is retiring and handing over the leadership of the Corporation.
Eustache has been one of the principal architects of the creation of Transat in 1987. With his avant-garde business vision focused on vertical integration, he helped make Transat a world leader in the tourism industry and was inducted into the Canadian Travel Hall of Fame.
The company he built has been the envy of many, as evidenced by the announcement in 2019 of the transaction for its acquisition by Air Canada valuing the company at more than $720 million before the pandemic came to thwart these plans.
"With the crisis resulting from the COVID-19, we were most happy to have been able to rely on all of Jean-Marc's experience and wisdom to face the worse storm in the history of Transat and the tourism industry, until the implementation of the critical $700 million financing announced on April 29, 2021 which will provide Transat with the funds it needs to relaunch its operations on solid grounds once it emerges from the pandemic-induced restrictions" said Raymond Bachand, the Lead Director of the Corporation.
"We are grateful to Jean-Marc for his contribution and his unwavering dedication throughout his tenure at Transat, and we now hope that he can fully enjoy his well-deserved retirement" he added.
Annick Guérard is appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer starting on May 27, 2021. Guérard has been Transat's Chief Operating Officer since November 2017 and will be the only woman in charge of a national airline in Canada.
"Jean-Marc has been a pillar of the company since its beginnings more than thirty years ago, and we want to continue to make this jewel that he leaves us shine for several decades to come" said Guérard.
"I leave the company in the good hands of Annick Guérard, who has my full confidence as well as that of the rest of the management team and the Board of Directors. I have no doubt that, under her leadership, Transat will accomplish great things and once again become a formidable competitor admired by all. I am proud to have brought Transat to where it is now, and to have been able to secure the funding that allows it to face its future with confidence.
"It is now time to make room for new decision-makers, as Transat will deploy the plan that will once again make it a solid, profitable company and, for a long time to come, the symbol of leisure travel in the eyes of its many customers, in Quebec and elsewhere" Eustache said.
Eustache is also stepping down from his role on the board of directors. M. Bachand will succeed him as Chairman of the Board and Guérard will join the Board of Directors. These changes will also be effective as of May 27, 2021.
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