Canada’s biggest airline has informed 1,500 of its workers that they’ll soon be out of jobs as a result of new travel restrictions and a dramatic reduction in demand for flying.
The airline will “temporarily reduce its unionized workforce by 1,500 people and by an as-yet-undetermined number of management positions,” Air Canada told CBC News.
“This is due to the federal government’s introduction of a mandatory quarantine on arrival as well as the continued suspension of flights to Mexico and the Caribbean,” the airline’s largest union CUPE said.
At least 900 of the jobs lost will come from CUPE members.
Route suspensions
The airline is also shutting down service on 17 more routes starting next week including:
Toronto to Fort Myers, Fla.
Toronto to Boston.
Toronto to Washington, D.C. (Reagan)
Toronto to Denver
Toronto to New York City (LaGuardia)
Montreal to Boston.
Montreal to LaGuardia.
Vancouver to Seattle.
Toronto to Bogotá, Colombia.
Toronto to Dubai.
Toronto to São Paulo, Brazil.
Toronto to Hong Kong.
Toronto to Tel Aviv, Israel.
Montreal to Bogotá, Colombia.
Vancouver to London, U.K.
Vancouver to Tokyo (Narita).
Toronto to Dublin, Ireland.
Calgary-based independent airline analyst Rick Erickson, who has no financial relationship with Air Canada, called the news “another serious, serious blow to Canada’s air carrier sector.”
The job cuts mean that Air Canada has essentially cut its workforce in half, from roughly 40,000 people before the pandemic to about 20,000 today. WestJet has cut even deeper, he says, from 14,000 workers before to only about 3,500 today.
Erickson says he was more surprised by the route suspensions, because they are not all to the U.S. and Caribbean sun destinations that new travel rules targeted.
Air Canada pulling out of those routes won’t do much to limit travel, because foreign airlines will likely maintain their service.
“The situation is dire,” he said. “The air carriers have had no choice but to continue to make cuts.”
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — New Zealand won the Women’s T20 World Cup for the first time, beating South Africa by 32 runs on Sunday after a standout performance from Amelia Kerr with bat and ball.
South Africa’s chase was held to 126-9 in 20 overs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in reply to New Zealand’s 158-5 in the final of the 18-day tournament.
South Africa was also seeking to become a first-time champion.
After South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt won the toss and opted to bowl, Kerr top scored for New Zealand with a 38-ball 43. Brooke Halliday hit 38 runs in 28 deliveries and opener Suzie Bates scored 32 in 31. Nonkululeko Mlaba took 2-31 in four overs for South Africa.
South Africa made a strong start to its chase, reaching 51-1 in 6.5 overs but never really threatened afterward, reaching the halfway stage of its innings at 64-3.
Wolvaardt top scored for South Africa with a 27-ball 33.
Kerr took 3-24 in her four overs, including Wolvaardt’s wicket.
This was South Africa’s second straight final appearance in the tournament. Losing to Australia by 19 runs, it had finished runners-up in its home tournament in 2023, its best result in the tournament.
New Zealand, meanwhile, reached the tournament final for the first time since 2010. In the first two editions – 2009 and 2010 – it had lost to England by six wickets in London, and to Australia by three runs in Barbados.
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday canceled his trip to Russia for a BRICS summit after an accident at home that left him with a cut in the neck, his office said.
The 78-year-old leader was scheduled to attend a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies in the city of Kazan from Tuesday to Thursday this week.
Hospital Sirio Libanês in Sao Paulo said in a statement that the leftist leader was instructed not to take long distance trips, but can keep his other activities. Doctors Roberto Kalil and Ana Heleno Germoglio said they will regularly check on Lula’s recovery.
Brazil’s presidency said in a separate statement that Lula will take part in the summit by videoconference and will continue his work in capital Brasilia this week. It did not disclose details about what caused the president’s injury.
