Opinion
Canada’s aviation sector needs a plan
By Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie November 16, 2020
Canada cannot expect a full economic recovery without support for the aviation sector
Canadians are unfortunately no longer as interconnected as they once were before the pandemic. Due to a drastic decrease in revenues, Air Canada was forced to suspend 30 regional routes, and WestJet, pictured, made the difficult decision to stop servicing Atlantic Canada altogether. Image courtesy of Commons Wikimedia
Canada’s aviation sector has been on the front lines of this pandemic since the very beginning. With the effects of the virus still very much unknown, airline workers stepped up to the challenge and focused on repatriating Canadians from abroad and delivering PPE. If the planes were not carrying the 10,673 Canadians home from abroad, they were transporting face masks and medical equipment to Canada from around the globe. However, in the months following the start of the pandemic, flight attendants and baggage handlers were furloughed, pilots struggled to get flight hours, passengers’ flights were cancelled, air traffic controllers were laid off, and service jobs in airports became virtually non-existent.
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