Air Canada plans to lay off at least 20,000 employees as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the airline industry.
The move comes amid ongoing border shutdowns and confinement measures that have tanked travel demand, prompting Air Canada to ground some 225 airplanes and slash flight capacity by 95 per cent.
The blow echoes on a bigger scale Air Canada's announcement in March to let go of nearly half of its workforce under a cost reduction scheme. The carrier proceeded to rehire some 16,500 laid-off flight attendants, mechanics and customer service agents in April under the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, but has not committed to maintain the program past June 6.
"We know this news is not what any of us were expecting," states the bulletin, signed by the president of CUPE's Air Canada component and two other union officials. The subsidy program that allowed employees -- including 6,800 flight attendants -- to be rehired last month covers 75 per cent of a worker's normal hourly wages or up to $847 per week. The vast majority of those workers have stayed at home, however, as operations remain at a virtual standstill.
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