Quebec aerospace industry pleads for federal aid

MONTREAL — Major players in Quebec aerospace are urging the federal government to step up with an aid package to help companies weather the COVID-19 storm.

Governments from France to Italy, Singapore and the U.S. have unveiled more than US$120 billion of aid combined for airlines and aerospace companies in recent months. The magnitude of the effort speaks to the strategic importance of aerospace globally, said Philippe Balducchi, head of European planemaker Airbus SE’S Canadian unit.

“We look at what’s happening elsewhere in the world, in countries that have built aerospace sectors, and we see a mobilization of governments” to support the industry, Balducchi said last week during a panel discussion organized by the Aéro Montréal industry association. “We’re in a global industry. It’s really urgent for Canada to send strong signals that it wants to keep its aerospace industry.”

Airbus and U.S. engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney are some of the key aerospace companies that have laid off hundreds of Montreal-area workers since the pandemic began. Smaller players have also been hit. Héroux-devtek Inc., the Longueuil-based landinggear producer, said in May it would eliminate 125 Quebec jobs as part of a 10-per-cent workforce reduction.

David Chartrand, Quebec’s co-ordinator for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau June 15 to express concern about the future of aerospace in Canada and request the federal government bring together industry players to develop an emergency plan targeting the industry.