Air Canada joins WestJet in slashing capacity

Air Canada has joined WestJet in cutting flights and jobs because of increased travel restrictions, announcing a 25 percent reduction in first-quarter capacity. About 1700 Air Canada employees will be affected by the system-wide cuts as well as more than 200 at express carriers. The cuts will see the airline operate just 20 percent of the capacity it flew in the first quarter of 2019. The Canadian airlines are responding to moves by their government to introduce pre-flight COVID testing from January 7 and tighten quarantine requirements. READ: US joins countries requiring pre-flight COVID testing. Air Canada chief commercial officer Lucie Guillemette said the restrictions and other measures had produced an immediate impact on short -term bookings. This had prompted the airline to make the "difficult but necessary" decision to further adjust its schedule and rationalize transborder, Caribbean and domestic routes to better reflect expected demand and reduce cash burn. “We regret the impact these difficult decisions will have on our employees who have worked very hard during the pandemic looking after our customers, as well as on the affected communities,’’ Guillemette said. “While this is not the news we were hoping to announce this early into the year, we are nonetheless encouraged that Health Canada has already approved two vaccines and that the Government of Canada expects the vast majority of eligible Canadians to be vaccinated by September. “We look forward to seeing our business start to return to normal and to bringing back some of our more than 20,000 employees currently on furlough and layoff.” WestJet had earlier blamed government travel advisories and restrictions for a decision to slash its schedule by 30 percent and cut the equivalent of 1000 jobs. The airline announced it would remove the capacity in February and March, resulting in an 80 percent year-on-year reduction. International capacity will be down by 93 percent. The move will see 230 weekly departures eliminated, including 160 domestic departures, and jobs reduced by a combination of furloughs, temporary layoffs, unpaid leave and reduced hours. WestJet chief executive Ed Sims said his airline had also seen significant reductions in new bookings and unprecedented cancellations after the Canadian government announced the new restrictions.