Westjet not seeking federal aid for ramp-up

Westjet says it is not seeking financial aid from the federal government after months of talks between Ottawa and the airline.

It says each party has agreed to shift focus to restarting the travel and tourism sector, given encouraging vaccination rates.

The federal government announced Monday that as of Aug. 9, fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents will be allowed to enter the country, with the rest of the world to follow Sept. 7.

Meanwhile, Air Canada said on Tuesday it has all the “fully qualified” pilots it needs to meet higher travel demand with the planned return of U.S. tourists to the country.

A rapid return in traffic can create staffing headaches for carriers which cancelled thousands of flights during the COVID-19 pandemic when demand plummeted.

Some U.S. airlines scrambled to retrain pilots whose flying credentials expired during the pandemic as the carriers raced to meet a surge in summer travel demand. American Airlines, for example, trimmed its July flying due to overall labour shortages.

As of April 13, Air Canada had 600 pilots on furlough, according to their union. The carrier had around 4,000 pilots before COVID-19, said a spokeswoman for the Air Canada Pilots Association.

But Air Canada said by email the carrier took steps during the pandemic to keep pilots in the air, such as having three pilots instead of two and converting larger aircraft to freighters.

Air Canada has 11 simulators and access to five more through aviation training specialist CAE.

Montreal-based CAE has seen higher demand for its simulator services, with its pilot-training centres now operating at around 60 per cent of capacity in the U.S.