MONTREAL -- The Montreal airport announced on Thursday it will eliminate 172 positions – or around 30 per cent of its workforce – in addition to putting all projects that don’t concern “asset integrity” on hold as the COVID-19 crisis continues to paralyze the commercial airline sector.
The operator and manager of Montreal Trudeau and Mirabel airports announced “exceptional measures” through a press release on Thursday, referring to the closure of the country's “air borders” and the lack of financial support for the sector “that will not recover for several years.”
The Montreal Airport – which consisted of 600 employees prior to COVID-19 – will see its workforce drop to 428 workers. While the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy has been able keep several staff members employed over the past few months, changes to the program make it “too onerous for the organization to continue to subscribe to it to the same extent.”
The organization expects passenger traffic to drop 71 per cent from last year, which will likely translate to a loss of revenue estimated at around $500 million compared to what was anticipated.
The Montreal airport has also cut its investment budget in half to focus only on work deemed necessary.
Because of this, the construction project for the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) station at Montreal-Trudeau will continue “only in planning mode” until the Montreal airport is able to obtain an “adapted loan” from different levels of government.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2020.
