Air Canada announces that it is cutting 1,700 jobs in response to a pandemic

Air Canada, Canada’s largest airline, announced today that it is cutting 1,700 jobs. The cuts are the result of changes being made by the airline to its “COVID-19 Mitigation and Recovery Plan” by further reducing its capacity by 25 per cent. The airline says “As a result of these system-wide changes, there will be a reduction in staff of around 1700 employees, in addition to the more than 200 affected employees. at its Express carriers. The airline is working with its unions on discount programs. ” In the news release, Air Canada says the 25% reduction in capacity is due to new pre-departure testing requirements, regional lockouts and travel restrictions.

“Since the implementation of the Federal and Regional Regulations of these travel restrictions and other measures, in addition to the existing quarantine requirements, we have seen an immediate impact on our close orders and have the difficult but necessary decision to change further. our scheduling and rationalization of our transborder, Caribbean and domestic routes to better reflect demand and reduce cash burn. We are saddened by the impact of these difficult decisions on our employees who have worked hard through the pandemic looking after our customers, as well as the communities affected. impact, ”said Lucie Guillemette, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Air Canada.

“While this is not the news we had hoped to announce early in the year, we are encouraged that Health Canada has already approved two vaccines and that the Government of Canada expects most Canadians to receive eligible for vaccination by September. We look forward to seeing our business begin to return to normal and bring back some of the more than 20,000 employees we currently have on furlough and layoff, ”Concluded Ms Guillemette.

Air Canada has also recently made cuts to many routes, including a ban on its flights until further notice in Prince Rupert, BC, Kamloops, BC, Gander, NL, Goose Bay, NL, Yellowknife, NWT, and Fredericton, NB

WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline, is also suffering from layoffs and route stops. Last week, WestJet announced cuts to its schedule, blaming Canadian government’s ongoing travel restrictions, including its recent decision to call negative coronavirus tests from all international travelers entering the country. The press release noted that “the airline continues to meet volatile demand and instability despite federal government advice and travel restrictions.” WestJet laid off 1,000 employees.

“Immediately after the announcement of the federal government’s in-house test on December 31, and the continuation of the 14-day quarantine, we saw huge reductions in new tickets and elimination of unprecedented items,” said Ed Sims , President and CEO of WestJet. “The entire travel industry and its customers have once again come to an end of inconsistent and inconsistent government policy. We have applied over the past 10 months for a coordinated test regime on Canadian soil, but this swift new step is causing unnecessary pressure for Canadian travelers and upset and could make travel inaccessible, inaccessible and inaccessible to Canadians for years to come. ”

“Unfortunately, this new policy leaves us with no choice but to once again lay off a large number of our employees, while at the same time affecting the pay of others,” he continued. “This is a hard result for a loyal and dedicated workforce who have worked tirelessly through the pandemic.”