MONTREAL -- Facing what it calls a "drastic drop" in passenger volume due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Montreal's airport authority announced Thursday it is slashing the salaries of its executives and making other significant cuts.
Aeroports de Montreal (ADM) is "taking extraordinary measures to ensure the survival of its airport sites, which are important engines of economic development for the city and Québec as a whole," the organization said in a statement.
ADM - which manages and operates Montreal-Trudeau International Airport and Mirabel Airport - is forecasting an 80-per-cent year-over-year drop in the number of travellers using its airports during the third quarter of 2020 (April to June), and a 35-per-cent loss of revenue in 2020, or about $250 million.
To mitigate these projected losses, the airport authority said it is taking the following measures:
- closing one of its runways, its aeroquay building and a third of its gates
- reducing its capital budget, used for construction projects in and around its airports, by 45 per cent (work on the REM light rail station adjacent to Trudeau airport will not be affected by these cuts, the ADM said)
- cuts to consulting and other professional services
- a 20-per-cent salary cut for senior managers and directors and a 10-per-cent cut for managers
- cancellation of planned salary increases for unionized staff
"ADM needs to make difficult decisions that will allow it to continue to manage its assets responsibly," Philippe Rainville, president and CEO of ADM, said in a statement.
