Air Canada announced on Thursday that it will be reducing several non-union management positions following a comprehensive review. Christophe Hennebelle, the vice-president of corporate communications, stated that the decision to cut positions was made to ensure resources and processes are optimized for efficient business operations and customer support. Approximately 400 positions, accounting for about one percent of Air Canada’s total staff, will be affected by the reductions. Hennebelle did not specify whether the cuts would be made through attrition or by leaving vacant positions unfilled, but he assured that the job cuts would not impact day-to-day operations.
Coinciding with the job cuts, Air Canada unveiled plans for an expansion of services from Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport. The expansion includes the addition of 10 new daily flights to U.S. destinations such as New York, Boston, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., as well as two new flights to Ottawa and one to Montreal. These new routes mark Air Canada’s most significant expansion at Toronto Island since it first began operations at the airport 35 years ago. The move intensifies the competition between Air Canada and Porter Airlines, with Porter already serving the same U.S. cities from Billy Bishop.
Amidst these developments, Air Canada is preparing to release its third-quarter results on November 5. In a preliminary estimate released earlier, the airline reported a two percent decline in operating capacity compared to the previous year due to over 3,200 flight cancellations in August when unionized flight attendants went on strike. The strike, which lasted from August 16 to August 19, resulted in a financial impact of $375 million in operating income for the airline.
Furthermore, Air Canada and other airlines are experiencing reduced travel to the U.S. following President Donald Trump’s trade disputes with Canada. Statistics Canada data from September show a 27.1 percent decline in Canadian residents returning from the U.S. by air compared to the same period last year.