Air Canada suspends over 800 unvaccinated staff following federal regulations: Report

Following the federal regulations, Air Canada suspended over 800 employees for not being completely vaccinated against COVID-19. According to Air Canada's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael Rousseau, the vast majority of the airline's 27,000 cabin crew, customer support representatives, and others have received both jabs, reported Global News. "Around 96% of our employees have received the vaccinations. Employees who have not been inoculated or who do not have a medical or other permissible exemption have been placed on unpaid leave," he was quoted as saying by the outlet.

Earlier in the month of October, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had asked the air, rail, and shipping corporations to establish vaccination protocols for their employees. The obligation for vaccination was made mandatory for airlines whose staff enter restricted areas of airports, such as concession and hospitality workers. According to executives, domestic leisure reservations have recovered, prompting the recall of almost 10,000 laid-off employees since the beginning of the year, including 6,500 since July. However, they also stated that business travel is still down across the board owing to the longevity of remote work.

According to financial markets data provider Refinitiv, revenue nearly tripled year over year to $2.10 billion in the quarter ended September 30, exceeding estimates by more than 15%. In addition, capacity also grew by 87% reported the outlet. The Canadian government has lifted the global travel advisory against all non-essential travel abroad, which was implemented in March 2020. Earlier, the government had advised everyone, regardless of vaccination status, to avoid overseas travel. Meanwhile, the Canadian government has advised Canadians to take precautions when travelling abroad, such as maintaining social distance and wearing face masks. 

It should be mentioned here that the advisory against cruise travel has not been lifted by the federal government, but it has been removed against non-essential travel. The provinces were informed that the Canadian government had reached an agreement with all provinces on a new national vaccine passport for air travel within and outside the country. Meanwhile, in a press release on October 21, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that a standardised Canadian COVID proof of vaccination for air travel is now available for citizens of eight provinces, with the certification for remaining provinces will be available soon. As of now, the country has provided vaccination to at least 58,756,154 people, equating to nearly 78% of the population, reported ANI. 

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