Transat AT’s repositioning toward Montreal and eastern Canada will close Air Transat’s base at Vancouver Airport on June 30, causing 200 flight attendant jobs to be cut.
The news came on Wednesday through an internal memo Journalism He was able to consult. The base allows the air carrier to permanently rely on aviation personnel on site.
“We will continue to operate the same flight schedule for now, but our flights will be operated by our two major teams based in Montreal and Toronto, where we have a strong historical and commercial footprint.
The letter notes that the decision “was very difficult to make” given the “seniority and loyalty of the Vancouver Base personnel.” On a voluntary basis, the employees involved may be transferred to Montreal or Toronto.
For the Confederation of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the vast majority of flight attendants in the country, this scenario mitigate “somewhat” the “extremely bad news” announced Wednesday. Not all employees will be able to pack up, warns Dominique Levasseur, head of the Air Transat component at CUPE.
“Most of the employees have more than 15 years of seniority,” he notes. Moving when you have a family and children is not easy. We negotiate the best possible conditions for the people who are going to Montreal and Toronto because we need them. »
In its internal memo, the Quebec tour operator maintains that the decision is “in no way intended to reduce” the number of staff in Canada, but to maintain it. The Montreal-based company says it wants to group its crews on two main bases.
At the helm of Transat AT since June 2021, President and CEO, Annick Guérard, has been working to refocus the tour operator. It focuses more on eastern Canada – Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes – and on flights to the United States.
The company also has alliances with airlines such as WestJet and Porter Airlines. The goal is to make networks integrated.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Transat AT shares closed at $3.39, down three cents, or 0.9%.
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- 3900 people
- Transat AT’s total workforce as of October 31, 2022.
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