No word yet how WestJet reduction affects the Hat
By GILLIAN SLADE on March 18, 2020.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade WestJet is reducing its domestic flights by 50 per cent, but what that means for Medicine Hat is not clear yet. “We do not have anything to announce at this time, it’s an extremely fluid situation and we will update as available,” Morgan Bell, spokesperson for WestJet, said Tuesday morning. After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement on Tuesday about closing borders except with the U.S., WestJet announced suspension of its international and transborder flights for 30 days, effective March 22 at 11:59 p.m. WestJet currently operates several flights each day out of Medicine Hat. Air Canada announced last week that it will suspend indefinitely its twice daily flights from Medicine Hat to Calgary starting April 1. WestJet says anyone with an existing booking for a domestic flight within Canada is not required to take any action. Passengers affected by cancelled flights will be contacted by WestJet. The same applies to international flights. Mark Porter, WestJet’s executive vice president of people and culture, calls the situation for the airline industry “unprecedented in aviation history.” It will affect staffing levels. “With a significant capacity reduction and the potential for a large number of our aircraft to be grounded, unfortunately, there will be major reductions in our workforce across all of the functions, and as such, we will have no choice but to reduce the number of WestJetters,” said Porter. The preferred option is for staff to consider voluntary leaves, early outs, voluntary early retirements, among other voluntary measures, he said. WestJet has already implemented a hiring freeze, stopped all non-essential travel and training events and suspended more than 75 per cent of its capital projects. It has plans to reduce the number of contractors and is asking vendors and suppliers for a reduction to their current contracts plus a delay in payments. A 20 per cent pay cut for the executive leadership team is being implemented and a 10 per cent pay cut for vice presidents and directors takes effect immediately. 13-12
