WestJet lays off 3,333 workers as pandemic continues to wipe out demand for
WestJet has laid off 3,333 workers and is planning to consolidate and contract out much of its operations as the pandemic continues to sink the majority of demand for air travel.
The Calgary-based company had 14,000 staff before pandemic border closures and travel restrictions grounded two-thirds of its fleet, WestJet said in Wednesday’s announcement.
These permanent layoffs leave just 4,500 on the payroll.
“WestJet has remained self-sufficient throughout this extended crisis, cutting our costs by more than 60 per cent,” CEO Ed Sims said in a YouTube video about the decision.
“And yet, despite these efforts, the damage we’ve incurred from a weakened demand environment is being compounded by multiple factors … the reality in which we find ourselves requires difficult and often painful decisions to ensure our continued viability in the future.”
The company will consolidate its call centre in Alberta, and contract out its operations in all but four of its 38 domestic airports, leaving just Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto.
It’s also restructuring office and management staff.
WestJet said its scheduled operations have been reduced by more than 90 per cent year-over-year due to the pandemic.
The company said it’s taken measures like instituting a hiring freeze, cutting executive, vice-president and director salaries and pausing more than 75 per cent of its capital projects.
“To our WestJetters and to your family and friends: this situation is nobody’s fault and nothing anyone could have done would have created a different outcome,” Sims said, adding that the decision was a last resort.
He said as the company works to find new partners with airport services, it will look for employment opportunities for the affected workers.
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