- Transat A.T. (TSX:TRZ) is laying off the majority of its staff and gradually suspending all flights
- The company will temporary lay off 70 per cent of its Canadian workforce in the coming weeks, with similar measures in other countries
- The company is suspending flights from April 30, with no resumption date announced
- In the lead up to April 30, Transat will continue to repatriate Canadian residents who are currently overseas
- Transat AT (TRZ) is down 4.92 per cent, with shares trading for C$6.57 and a market cap of $248.8 million
After predicting potential staff reductions and flight suspensions last week, Transat AT (TSX:TRZ) is implementing mass layoffs and suspending all flights.
The company is temporarily suspending 70 per cent of its workforce in Canada, impacting around 3,600 employees. Transat A.T. is enacting similar measures across its operations in other countries.
Furthermore, the company executives are taking voluntary pay-cuts, to retain some level of liquidity for Transat.
Transat plans to halt all flights by April 30. The gradual slowdown is to allow the company to bring home Canadian residents who are currently overseas.
When Transat announced repatriation efforts last week, 65,000 customers were still stranded overseas. As of today, the company has returned around 60 per cent of those passenger to Canada.
Transat President and CEO, Jean-Marc Eustache, noted that while these measures are extreme, they are necessary, in light of the circumstances.
“These measures have forced us to totally suspend our operations. We have done this in such a way that none of our customers are stuck far from home.
“Transat has unfortunately had to proceed with layoffs that affect a significant portion of our employees. We are doing this with great sadness and we hope that everyone will be able to return to work as quickly as possible,” he said.
Jean-Marc went on to pay tribute to the flight crews and the work they’ve put in over the last few weeks during the repatriation effort.
The company has not announced when or if Transat flights will resume.
The COVID-19 pandemic’s economic effects have hit the airline industry particularly hard. Ongoing flight bans and travel fears have devastated the industry in recent months.
Earlier this month, Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu stated that the Canadian government will need to provide assistance to the airline industry to avoid a collapse. As of yet, the government has not made any firm announcement about assistance for the airline industry.
Transat A.T. (TRZ) is down 4.92 per cent, with shares trading for C$6.57 at 2:14pm EST.