Airlines demand clearer policy from Ottawa
Westjet, Air canada want timetable
OTTAWA • Canada’s two biggest airlines are calling on Ottawa to provide clearer guidelines around when vaccinated Canadians will be able to fly again, warning that prolonged lockdowns threaten to permanently cripple their bottom lines.
In testimony before the House of Commons transport committee Thursday, representatives at Westjet and Air Canada said federal officials ought to expand airport COVID-19 testing to the national level to ensure safety, while also laying out clear criteria for when domestic travel restrictions might be lifted.
Their recommendations come as Westjet in particular has become increasingly critical of the Liberal government’s approach to border security, after the company last month dismissed a new testing policy for incoming travellers as “incoherent and inconsistent.”
“Canada must prioritize domestic travel and negotiate a transparent and clear policy with provincial governments,” Andy Gibbons, a regulatory affairs official at Westjet, said in committee Thursday.
Westjet has seen its bookings drop 95 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels, Gibbons said. At current bookings, the company would require 6.5 years to match its 2019 levels, he said. Air Canada representative david rheault, meanwhile, said his company is losing $15 million per day as pandemic restrictions persist.
Westjet has laid off 4,000 of its 14,000 workforce since the beginning of the pandemic, with another 1,000 staff currently on leave. Air Canada has laid off 20,000 workers of its initial 40,000 workforce.
Widespread layoffs and evaporated cash flows come amid industry frustrations over pandemic lockdowns that have far exceeded initial expectations. Many had expected only a few months of harsh restrictions, while provincial and federal advisories have instead remained in place for nearly a year.
“If you had asked us in mid-march last year where would we be on Feb. 4, 2021, it would not be where we are today,” Gibbons said.
both representatives said Ottawa needs to carve out a clear exit strategy that will allow airlines to plan ahead, saying there has been too little clarity around when governments will lift restrictions after people have been vaccinated. The rollout of Ottawa’s vaccination campaign has also hit snags in recent weeks, with Canada’s two main suppliers cutting back supplies on short notice.
“It’s very difficult for us to plan when we don’t know what would be the demand in the next month,” Air Canada’s rheault said.
The firms also recommended expanding pilot projects like Alberta’s rapid testing program to a national level, which would allow governments to track new variants. Alberta has already identified 28 new variants through its COVID-19 border Testing Pilot Program, which has screened nearly 45,000 incoming international travellers at a land border crossing and in airports.
The federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in recent weeks departed sharply from its previous position on international travel restrictions.
Ottawa had claimed for months that its border measures were among the best in the world, but then changed its tack without notice in december, after numerous Canadian politicians were caught travelling abroad and after Ontario Premier doug Ford criticized their border security.
It then introduced a series of new policies, including one that forces international travellers to provide negative COVID-19 tests before they board a flight.
Incoming travellers will eventually have to quarantine at dedicated hotels for at least three days, according to a recent announcement by Trudeau. A spokesperson in the federal health ministry did not provide details on when those plans would be enforced.
Airlines warn that continued travel restrictions, particularly on the domestic level, could cause companies to make cuts to essential services that may be permanent.
“difficult decisions have to be made that might jeopardize infrastructure in the long term,” rheault said. “This is why measures have to be put in place to preserve our infrastructure and to allow carriers and our employees and all the transportation ecosystem to come back to the pre-pandemic situation we were in.”
Gibbons, the representative for Westjet, said additional aid might be required to help companies if lockdowns persist. Airline companies were among the first companies to adopt the federal wage subsidy program, which only covers a fraction of overhead costs for the companies.
“No matter how you slice it, that is not a robust industry recovery plan or an assistance package at all consistent with what other G7 Nations and other countries have done.”
CANADA MUST PRIORITIZE DOMESTIC TRAVEL AND NEGOTIATE A POLICY.