WestJet announces 3,000 layoffs and domestic flight cancellations over COVID-19
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/04/2020 (2290 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
CALGARY – WestJet Airlines Ltd. says it will lay off 3,000 people and cancel more than 4,000 domestic flights weekly in May as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hammer the airline industry.
The company said it will remove some 600 daily flights from its schedule between May 5 and June 4 — about 18,000 trips in total — due to “significantly reduced guest demand.”
“The reality of this crisis continues to require WestJet to make mission-critical decisions to ensure the sustainability of our airline,” WestJet President and CEO Ed Sims said in a statement Wednesday.
“With less than five per cent of our pre-COVID-19 guest loads, work is simply not currently available.
“These decisions, while difficult, are being thoughtfully and methodically made so that we can weather this crisis and be ready for a future where we can provide inactive WestJetters with fulfilling employment once again.”
The Calgary-based carrier said all international flights, including to the U.S., remain suspended through June 4.
Sims said WestJet appreciates Government of Canada programs during the pandemic and will use the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy to retain people on the payroll and to ensure they remain connected to the company.
“We continue to work with our employee and labour groups on ways to maintain employment through the crisis.”
Last week, Air Canada halted most international flights until June, while Air Transat and Sunwing Airlines Ltd. cancelled all trips until May 31.
The decisions extended the suspension of more than 160 Air Canada routes as well as Air Transat and Sunwing trips by another month as closed borders and vanishing demand ravage the travel sector.
WestJet and other airlines offer two-year vouchers for trips they’ve cancelled, though advocates argue travellers should be entitled to refunds for flight services paid for but not received, as in the United States and the European Union.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2020.
