(TAN): Montreal-based airline Air Canada is sacking over 5,000 flight attendants as travel demand declines amid the pandemic, reports said.
According to reports, the carrier will dismiss nearly 3,600 employees and 1,549 flight attendants at Rouge, its budget subsidiary.
The layoffs, that will impact approximately 60% of flight attendants, will be effective by next month, as per reports.
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Air Canada is planning to suspend most of its international flights and United States operations by March 31, reports said. The airline will reportedly bring its employees back to work after flights resume.
The United Arab Emirates, on the other hand, will suspend passenger transits through Dubai for two weeks in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus, reports said.
The decision will affect passengers transiting through the world’s busiest international airport, which links Europe with Asia and Australia, as per reports.
Meanwhile, United States-based airline United Airlines will reduce its international schedule by 95% for April. While the carrier will suspend all operations to Canada from April 1, its last trans-Atlantic departures, except the Cape Town-New York/Newark service, will occur on March 25. The final Cape Town-New York/Newark service will take off from Cape Town, South Africa on March 28.
The airline will also bring down its trans-Pacific and Latin America services.
Earlier this month, Austrian Airlines, a carrier of the Lufthansa Group, reportedly suspended scheduled flight operations amid travel restrictions imposed by several countries in response to the outbreak.
Belgium-based airline Brussels Airlines cancelled additional flights for March and will operate a shorter schedule in April, reports said.
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