Before joining Air Canada, Rovinescu was the managing partner of Montreal law firm Stikeman Elliott LLP, and for over 20 years practiced in the areas of corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. While a lawyer at Stikeman ElliottLLP, Rovinescu served as lead external counsel on Air Canada's privatization and public offering in 1988 and continued advising the airline on significant transactions and events thereafter. He is a member of the Quebec and Ontario Bar Associations. Rovinescu first joined Air Canada in 2000 as its Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy and served as its Chief Restructuring Officer during its 2003–2004 restructuring. Between 2004 and returning to Air Canada in 2009, Rovinescu was a co-founder and principal of independent investment bank Genuity Capital Markets, which subsequently merged with Canaccord Capital to form Canaccord Genuity Group. Rovinescu was elected chairman of the Star Alliance chief executive board, the controlling body of Star Alliance, the world's largest global airline alliance, and served in that role from 2012 to 2016. He is also a member of the board of governors of the International Air Transport Association, a global trade association representing some 240 airlines. He served as chairman of IATA from June 2014 to June 2015. He also serves on the board of directors of BCE Inc., Canada's largest telecom and media company as well as on the board of directors of the Business Council of Canada, an organization composed of the CEOs of Canada's largest enterprises, representing all sectors of the Canadian economy. Rovinescu is broadly credited with having saved Air Canada from bankruptcy and having set it on a course for sustainable profitability, better labour relations and continued success. In the ten years since his appointment, Air Canada's shares have appreciated by approximately 4,000% and the airline has achieved record revenues, record profitability and carried a record number of passengers. It has also expanded dramatically and now serves all six inhabited continents. During his tenure, Air Canada was recognized by Skytrax as the Best Airline in North America in seven of nine years, and as the only four star network carrier in North America. In addition, it won numerous other awards including Air Transport World's 2018 Eco Airline of the Year and is one of Canada's Top Employers. The Globe and Mail's Report on Business magazine named Rovinescu Canada's best CEO of 2013. In addition, in 2016, he was named Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year, the country's preeminent award for chief executives, founded in 1990 to identify and recognize exemplary leadership and achievement in business. In 2018, Flight Global presented Rovinescu with the Global Executive Leadership Award at the 2018 Airline Strategy Awards in London, England. He was recognized for his "strong and unwavering leadership of Air Canada where he devised a complete restructuring plan that has delivered huge success for the airline. Also in 2018, Rovinescu was recognized with the CEO lifetime achievement Award at the Airline Passenger Experience Association expo in Boston, and named the first CEO from the Americas to be presented with the Award by APEX. Rovinescu was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2018 for promoting the associated charitable causes and organizations of Canada's largest airline, and for his leadership in spearheading humanitarian relief following several natural disasters. On November 9, 2015, he was named 14th Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, replacing former Governor General Michaëlle Jean.
