Air Canada is cutting about a quarter of its planned capacity for the first quarter amid tighter entry restrictions imposed by the Canadian government in recent weeks.
As of last week, Canada began requiring all inbound passengers age five and older to show proof of a negative Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction test within 72 hours of departure in addition to 14-day quarantine requirements, which remain in place regardless of passengers' test results. Since then, Air Canada has seen "an immediate impact to our close-in bookings, and [we] have made the difficult but necessary decision to further adjust our schedule and rationalize our transborder, Caribbean and domestic routes to better reflect expected demand and to reduce cash burn," EVP and chief commercial officer Lucie Guillemette said in a statement.
With the new capacity cuts, Air Canada will be operating about 20 percent of the capacity it had operated in the first quarter of 2019. The carrier also is cutting its workforce by about 1,700 employees and is working with unions on mitigation programs.
WestJet already announced capacity cuts and workforce reductions stemming from the new restrictions last week.