The Air Canada logo is seen on a hangar at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Friday, March 20, 2020. Air Canada has advised airports in Atlantic Canada that it will suspend more routes in the region until further notice. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Air Canada cuts 1,700 more jobs, slashes capacity
Its first quarter 2021 capacity will be 20 per cent of what it had in 2019
Jan. 13, 2021 7:40 a.m.
Air Canada says it will cut 1,700 jobs as it scales down operations in response to a new wave of lockdown restrictions.
The 25 per cent reduction in service for the first quarter of 2021 will also affect 200 employees at Air Canada's Express carriers, the company said Wednesday morning.
"We regret the impact these difficult decisions will have on our employees who have worked very hard during the pandemic looking after our customers, as well as on the affected communities," said Lucie Guillemette, Air Canada's executive vice president and chief commercial officer, in a statement.
Guillemette said increased travel restrictions by federal and provincial governments have had an immediate impact on the company's bookings.
With the reduction, Air Canada's capacity in the first quarter of 2021 will be about 20 per cent of its capacity during the first quarter of 2019, the company says.
Air Canada notified airports in Atlantic Canada this week that it would cut additional routes in the region, suspending all flights in Gander, N.L., Goose Bay, N.L., and Fredericton, N.B., until further notice as of Jan. 23.
Air Canada is contacting affected customers to offer them options such as refunds or alternative travel arrangements, the company said.
The cuts come just days after Air Canada's latest round of service reductions in Atlantic Canada went into effect on Jan. 11.
Monette Pasher, the executive director of the Atlantic Canada Airports Association, said in a statement that the repercussions of the service cuts would be felt for years to come in communities in Atlantic Canada.
"We cannot just flip a switch to turn air service back on when we get to the other side of this pandemic," Pasher said. "We are going to have a long hard road ahead of us to rebuild air access for our region."
READ MORE: Air Canada uses social media influencers to promote travel abroad, despite stay-home direction
Jon Victor, The Canadian Press
Air CanadaCoronavirus
Starbucks says closure of up to 300 stores in Canada to be completed by end of March
Supply management key to survival of B.C. dairy industry, says Okanagan farmer
Reports of Kelowna house fire with entrapment unfounded, man arrested
The report prompted a large response by emergency crews