Airlines need aid or ability to fly to escape ‘catastrophic territory,’ Air Canada CEO says
The chief executive of Canada’s largest air carrier says it’s time for the federal government to either relax pandemic-related restrictions on travel or provide more aid to a beleaguered airline industry that has been left “basically … in shutdown mode” due to measures put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Rovinescu said “broad brush” blanket travel advisories were appropriate in March and April when little was understood about the virus and how COVID-19 was transmitted, but that jurisdictions such as the European Union have since moved to create “safe corridors” or “travel bubbles” based on science and virus tracking, with “bio-safety” measures put in place in airports and on flights.
Meanwhile, while Canadian air carriers such as Air Canada have had to raise funds to offset their high fixed costs and cash burn, their global counterparts including American Airlines, United, Southwest, Singapore Airlines, Air France and KLM in the Netherlands are receiving billions of dollars and euros in government aid and rescue packages, he said.
“We’ve gone from a health crisis to a very serious economic crisis,” Rovinescu said, adding that the business sector and governments should be working collaboratively to reopen the economy in a safe way.
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