Air Canada to temporarily reduce lay off half its workforce

(AFP)

Air Canada announced Monday it might temporarily lay off nearly half its employees and reduce activity by up to 90 percent within the second quarter thanks to the coronavirus.

The measures would affect 15,200 employees and about 1,300 managers from April 3, the airline said during a handout .

Last week, Air Canada -- the primary Canadian airline to be hit hard by the pandemic -- announced the temporary layoff of quite 5,100 flight attendants, including 1,500 members of its low-cost subsidiary Air Canada Rouge.

"The unpredictable extent and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic requires a big overall response," Air Canada president Calin Rovinescu said within the statement.

"To furlough such an outsized proportion of our employees is a particularly painful decision but one we are required to require given our dramatically smaller operations for subsequent while."

The Montreal-based company will reduce operations for the second quarter of 2020 by 85 to 90 percent compared to an equivalent period the previous year.

A cost reduction program are going to be implemented to get "at least $500 million" (320 million euros). Senior executives will hand over a neighborhood of their salary, and therefore the president and chief treasurer will hand over their entire salary.

Air Canada has suspended most of its international flights, including to the us , after the announcement of the temporary closure of the US-Canada border in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The number of airports in Canada it's now serving has been reduced from 62 to 40.

Air Canada employs 36,000 people round the world, consistent with the corporate website.

Canada's second-largest airline, Air Transat, which is being acquired by Air Canada, also announced it might lay off nearly 2,000 flight attendants, beginning in early April.

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