What is the plan for an aviation restart in Canada?

This week the federal government announced that, starting sometime in July, there will be no requirement for Canadian citizens to quarantine for 14 days. Arriving passengers will just need to have a COVID-19 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and self-isolate until the results are available. The government’s announcement comes with no official start date as there still needs to be a monitoring of the amount of COVID-19 cases and rates of vaccinations.

“Yesterday’s announcement signals a start to lifting of restrictions that have paralysed the airline industry in Canada. We are excited to see that the Federal Government is starting to signal a lifting of restrictions but we need to see a full plan on a restart of the air transportation sector. What is the governments charted flight plan for aviation? This critical sector is a key contributor to the Canadian economy that employs thousands of people, most of which are our members. We certainly hope the government will engage stakeholders to consult what the best approach to a restart would be. Any plan should ensure workers’ rights are protected,” said Stan Pickthall General Vice-President of IAM Canada.

The announcement came after the COVID-19 Expert Advisory panel made recommendations last week that included a phased approach that had different paths for the different levels of vaccinated travellers.

“We currently have thousands of members that are desperate to get back to work. They deserve to know whether they will have jobs to go back too. It is not only the airlines that may need help; there are many air transportation employers that have seen their businesses decimated. It is critical that we collectively get to work on charting aviation’s recovery,” continued Pickthall.

The IAM represents the largest number of workers at Canadian Airports.