This Bloomberg recap of the state of play in the Canadian airline industry lays bare the gaul of Air Canada ' management' to readily accept bail-outs with the left hand while signing off on service cuts and severance packages with the other. All readers know Cape Breton can ill afford further logistical handicaps. There should be no 'golden parachutes' for the displaced management when the rubber meets the tarmac.
Countries much larger and less regionally diverse than Canada have had to make hard choice. Italy has nationalized Air Italia. Singapore has taken an equity stake via warrants to bail out their national carrier Singapore Airlines. Japan has suggested that ANA and Japan Airlines should merge.
This is coming and the quicker it is embraced the sooner air service is restored across all of Canada. JCG
Article:
Air Canada Vexes New Trudeau Minister With Cuts to Routes, Jobs
2021-01-13 20:11:39.22 GMT
By Kait Bolongaro and Danielle Bochove
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government
criticized moves by Canada’s largest airlines to cut jobs and
routes amid tightening restrictions on travel to curb the spread
of Covid-19.
Air Canada said Wednesday it will reduce flights by about
25% from planned capacity in the first quarter, resulting in
about 1,900 lost jobs. The country’s second-largest carrier,
WestJet Airlines Ltd., announced similar cuts last week.
Montreal-based Air Canada is suspending flights to some
remote regions, including all routes serving Labrador on the
Atlantic coast. The company cited weak demand and new measures
imposed by the federal and provincial governments in recent
weeks, one of which is a requirement that travelers provide
proof of a negative Covid-19 test before flying to Canada.
A spokesperson for new Transport Minister Omar Alghabra
said the government is “disappointed” with the cuts and is
“developing a package of assistance to the Canadian airline
industry,” which will have strings attached.
“Before we spend one penny of taxpayer money on airlines,
we will ensure that Canadians get their refunds, regional
communities retain air connections to the rest of Canada and
Canadian air carriers maintain their status as key customers of
Canada’s aerospace industry,” Allison St. Jean, a spokesperson
for Alghabra, said in an email.
The comments come as the Liberal government and airlines
discuss potential aid for the sector. Airlines have been vocal
about how Canada’s closed borders and strict quarantine rules
are suppressing demand for travel.
Trudeau’s Border Rules Leave Airlines Desperate for Way Out
Jerry Dias, national president of Unifor, said he wasn’t
aware of any “meaningful” negotiations between the government
and the airlines.
“All of the major carriers, the governments, have all said:
we understand that this is Armageddon -- but our government has
done nothing,” Dias said by phone. “Air Canada is losing
millions a day. I’ve never been one to take the company position
but the fact is, they’re losing millions of dollars a day.”
Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union, represented
about 5,600 Air Canada employees as of March 2020.
Porter Airlines Inc., a smaller Toronto-based carrier
focused mainly on commuter routes, is also extending its
suspension of service into February thanks to the pandemic.
The collective reduction of flights is becoming a political
headache for Trudeau, given it leaves broad swathes of the
sprawling nation without convenient air links to major centers.
Alghabra was named to the transport post Tuesday in a cabinet
shuffle that could be a prelude to an election in which the
Liberals hope to win back their parliamentary majority.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Kait Bolongaro in Ottawa at [email protected];
Danielle Bochove in Toronto at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Theophilos Argitis at [email protected]
Derek Decloet, Stephen Wicary
Air Canada - The Path to Nationalization
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Air Canada's latest announcement puts them on the road to nationalization. Sydney, NS air service to be resumed by mid-year 2021if decisive action is taken.
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