Air Canada To Lay Off Over 15,000 Workers

USPA NEWS - As the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise, there has been a huge drop in air travel in Canada and around the world. At this moment, the number of Covid-19 cases in Canada is 7,418. The breakdown by province is as follows: British Columbia 970, Alberta 661, Saskatchewan 176, Manitoba 96, Ontario 1,706, Quebec 3,430, New Brunswick 68, Prince Edward Island 18, Nova Scotia 127 and Newfoundland 148.

In a news release on March 30th, Air Canada announced that they would be laying off over 15,000 workers citing travel restrictions and Covid-19 related cancellations. The layoffs will begin this week and will continue through April and May.  In a media release, Chief Executive Calin Rovinescu says, "To furlough, such a large proportion of our employees is an extremely painful decision but one we are required to take given our dramatically smaller operations for the next while, " Air Canada is forced to cancel about 90%  of its flights, which includes domestic, United States and international routes due to worldwide shutdown. Air Canada reports that the layoffs will include unionized workers, managers. and support staff. On March 20th, Air Canada's flight attendant union announced that 5,149 cabin crew would be temporarily laid off due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The announcement today does not include the earlier layoffs.

We will continue to provide coverage of this developing situation which is affecting airlines throughout the world while continuing to practice self-isolation.