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Air Canada Discontinues Service on 30 Domestic Regional Routes Unacceptable Closures Which Sacrifice Regional Needs in Favour of Private InterestsAir Canada likes to claim that it is Canada's "national carrier." Canada's size, geography, climate, political, economic and social organization dictate definite needs. This is turn leads Canadians to identify the role they require from a national airline or airlines to meet those needs. The truth of the matter is that Air Canada does not meet those needs because to do so is not profitable to the narrow private interests which own and control it. This is a topic which is not up for discussion but the need of Canadians always clashes with the private aim and this is never far from people's minds.
Of the 30 routes discontinued 14 are in the Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador, 12 are in Quebec and Ontario and four in Western Canada. The latter affect service between Regina, Winnipeg and Saskatoon and between the two Saskatchewan cities and the national capital. The Quebec suspensions affect Baie Comeau, Mont Joli, Gaspé and les îles de la Madeleine, Quebec City, Sept-Iles, Val d'Or, Rouyn-Noranda and Montreal. In Ontario they affect Kingston, London, North Bay and Windsor. The Atlantic suspensions affect Deer Lake, Goose Bay, St. John's, Fredericton, Halifax, Moncton, Charlottetown, Gander, Bathurst, and Wabush, as well as service from Frederiction and Moncton to the national capital. Negating any responsibility toward the people affected, Air Canada simply presents these actions as part of "a range of structural changes including significant cost savings and liquidity measures" in order to reassure shareholders that everything is being done so that they can continue to profit from the airline's activities. Included in those "cost savings" is the recent layoff of 20,000 employees -- more than 50 per cent of its staff. Workers and their unions are vehemently denouncing Air Canada's callous decision. On June 30, Serge St. Pierre, President of the Central Council for Gaspésie and the Magdalen Islands-CSN, wrote on the Council's Facebook page that: "Air Canada, the main carrier in our region, has
just
left us stranded. It's time that all of us, citizens, elected
officials, unionized and non-unionized workers alike, form a bloc in
order that the government consider all the regions' inhabitants an
integral part of society. They are entitled to the same services as all
citizens. For this to actually
happen, we must not rely on private companies for the provision of such
a service, as they only have profit in mind. Air transportation
services are essential for a region's social and economic development
and must be provided by the government." The mayor of Bathurst declared that "it is another
blow"
to northern New Brunswick following the loss of major employers in
recent years. Air Canada was the airport's only carrier. The airport
has to
remain open because it hosts chartered flights, couriers, emergency
services and other operations but it will have to reduce operations and
lay off
staff. It had recently invested $7 million in expanding its terminal
and lengthening its runway. The airports in Moncton and Fredericton
also reacted with concern about the financial hit from the suspensions,
which effectively ended links between Halifax and the other Atlantic
cities. The government of Quebec has considered creating
its own
airline to serve the regions along with other possibilities, including
paying the rich by offering subsidies to an airline company to take up
the flights that Air Canada has abandoned. While justifying subsidies
by declaring that having all the regions of Quebec served is "an
essential service," Quebec Premier François Legault had
nothing to say about why Air Canada was allowed to abandon that
essential service. Air Canada and the other Canadian airlines have been lobbying the government to remove travel restrictions so that they can return to profitability. Therein lies the problem. In our far-flung country, airlines are essential for business travel, to provide access to health care and other essential services, to connect families, and for leisure activities, as well as the transfer of goods and supplies, both domestically and internationally. Dependence on airlines whose only motive is profit is being proven to be unsustainable. We need a national airline that belongs to the people of Canada, run by the people who work for the airline, and organized to serve our needs. This is part of the new direction that is needed in the airline sector and in the economy as a whole. Only then will such attacks on the regions end and will people be looked after during times of crisis like the pandemic we are living through.
This article was published in   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
With
the June 30 announcement by the company that it was discontinuing
service indefinitely on 30 domestic regional routes and closing eight
stations in Canada, the destructive impact and nation-wrecking is
further revealed. There is no mention in the press release of
the
impact this will have on the regions hit, which are already struggling
to survive. There is no mention of how many workers will be
affected by these actions. With those route suspensions it is obvious
that there will be an effect on employment in the stations that aren't
being closed as well. 
Because
of COVID-19, countries around the world have imposed travel
restrictions as a measure to protect their citizens. Even where people
are able to travel they hesitate to do so because of ongoing fear of
the pandemic. 