Canada’s biggest airline has announced that it will be laying off 1,500 of its workers as a result of new travel restrictions and a dramatic reduction in demand for flying.

In a report in CBC News, the airline will “temporarily reduce its unionized workforce by 1,500 people including unidentified management positions.

Air Canada also canceled all rogue flights that left another 80 of their personnel jobless.

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“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.

“We appreciate the need for measures to prevent the spread of new variants of COVID-19 in Canada,” said Wesley Lesosky, who represents the Air Canada component of CUPE.

The airline is also closing 17 routes starting next week including Dubai. Here’s the complete list:

• 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

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“Affected customers with bookings will be contacted with options, including alternate routings,” Air Canada said.

Experts see that this is another blow to Canada’s airline sector.

Air Canada has cut its workforce into half since the pandemic from 40,000 now they are down to 20,000. (TDT)

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