Shomporko Desk:- From Montreal-based airline, effective this Friday, 15,200 unionized workers and 1,300 managers will last through April and May amid drastically reduced flight capacity.
Chief executive officer Calin Rovinescu said, “To furlough, such a large proportion of our employees is an extremely painful decision but one we are required to take given our dramatically smaller operations for the next while”.
For the second quarter, Rovinescu and CFO Michael Rousseau will forego 100 percent of their salaries.
Earlier this month Air Canada’s flight attendant union said 5,149 cabin crew would be temporarily laid off due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The newly announced layoffs do not include earlier job reductions.
The pandemic has cost thousands of jobs in the airline sector. Transat AT Inc. has laid off at least 3,600 flight attendants while WestJet has seen 6,900 departures including early retirements resignations and both voluntary and involuntary leaves.
