Airlines
Frequent Flyer Flexibility From Porter
Frequent flyers, unable to travel due to COVID-19, are being provided with greater flexibility by Porter Airlines. Porter Pass holders and VIPorter loyalty members will continue receiving the full value of their travel programs. Porter Pass offers frequent travellers prepaid tickets for a select number of one-way flights, at a discounted price. Porter Pass holders with vouchers set to expire between March 2 and July 31, 2020, now have until June 30, 2021 to use their passes. The system is automatically updated and no action is necessary. All other terms and conditions apply. For...
WestJet To Apply For Federal Wage Subsidy
In a video message released late last night, WestJet’s CEO Ed Sims said the carrier will use the federal government’s emergency wage subsidy program to bring its 6,400 workers back onto the payroll. And while the move will help those works with their expenses, Sims warned that there might not be enough work for those employees when they’ve been rehired. Sims added that it will be advising its staff affected by the move as soon as possible. In March, WestJet cut about half of its 14,000 employees, cutting 6,900...
Air Canada Adopting Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy
Air Canada says it intends to adopt the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) for the benefit of its 36,000 Canadian-based employee workforce. The airline’s decision to do this has received the support of all of its Canadian-based unions: ACPA, CALDA, CUPE, IAMAW and Unifor. On March 30, 2020, as part of an overall cost reduction program, Air Canada announced that its workforce in Canada will be temporarily reduced by approximately 50%, or 16,500 jobs, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and the imposition of global travel restrictions. On April 1, 2020, the Canadian government...
COVID-19 Update: Lufthansa, GBTA And More
Noting that it “does not expect the aviation industry to return to pre-coronavirus crisis levels very quickly,” the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG has decided on extensive measures to reduce the capacity of flight operations and administration long term. The Executive Board said in a statement that according to its assessment, it will take months until the global travel restrictions are completely lifted and years until the worldwide demand for air travel returns to pre-crisis levels. The Board’s decisions will affect almost all flight operations of the Lufthansa...
IATA Forecasts Staggering Job Losses
In a new analysis, IATA says that 25 million jobs could disappear as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline industry association points out that 65.5 million people are dependent on aviation for their livelihoods, with 2.7 million of those jobs being directly with airlines. In a scenario in which severe travel restrictions lasting for three months, IATA’s research calculated that 25 million jobs in aviation and related sectors are endangered across the world: 11.2 million jobs in Asia-Pacific 5.6 million jobs in Europe 2.9 million jobs in Latin America 2.0...
COVID-19: Restaurants, Your BDMs And Lots More
Canadian BDMs have a message for agents: Sit back, relax and feel the glow because your BDMs across Canada have a message for travel agents here. BDMs from 15 supplier companies -- Transat, Uplift, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, Cunard, NCL, Hurtigruten, WestJet, Carnival, Insight, Canlink, Goway, Palace Resorts and Trafalgar -- joined forces to thank agents for their support during these difficult times and make it clear that they're there for them now and when the crisis has passed. And each of the BDMs also told agents to stay well, stay safe, stay home ... and, of...
Carriers Obligated To Provide Refunds: DOT
The U.S. Department of Transportation issued an enforcement notice to airlines late last week, telling them that: “in the context of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency, that U.S. and foreign airlines remain obligated to provide a prompt refund to passengers for flights to, within, or from the United States when the carrier cancels the passenger’s scheduled flight or makes a significant schedule change and the passenger chooses not to accept the alternative offered by the carrier.” DOT’s notice also said that the obligation of airlines to provide...
IATA AGM Postponed Until It’s Safe, Practicable
IATA is postponing its 76th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit that was set to be held from June 22-23 in Amsterdam. In making the announcement, IATA said that the events would be held “when it is both safe and practicable to do so.” The association indicated that it anticipates that will be in the late third or early fourth quarter of 2020 and it will make an announcement with the new details once a new date is confirmed. Alexandre de Juniac, director general and CEO of IATA, commented, “Our members are in the deepest crisis the air transport...