Canada is drastically tightening its borders to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
Prime MInister Justin Trudeau today said the border will be closed and that only Canadians citizens, Canadian permanent residents and U.S. citizens will be allowed into the country. Immediate family members of Canadians also will be allowed.
Trending Now
He also said planes from international airports will only be allowed to land in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal as of Wednesday, March 18.
Trudeau said Canadian travellers stranded overseas will get assistance to get home.
He also said all Canadians, “as much as possible, should stay home.”
“These measures will save lives,” the Prime Minister said.
It’s an extraordinary move that could help the crisis, but the moves will be a major blow to the Canadian travel and airline industry.
Roughly an hour prior to Trudeau’s speech, Air Canada issued a press release saying it expects its second-quarter capacity to be half the level of the same quarter in 2019. Pacific capacity is expected to drop even more, by 75%.
“To preserve cash, Air Canada is initiating a company-wide cost reduction and capital deferral program, targeting at least $500 million.”
The release didn’t mention layoffs, but officials did note that Air Canada has had an excellent run in the past decade or so.
“Air Canada today has the agility, the team and the route network to successfully navigate through this crisis. Most importantly for business continuity, it also has the necessary financial resources, including a solid balance sheet, record liquidity levels, higher debt ratings based on a low leverage ratio, and a significant pension plan surplus.”
Still, Air Canada talked up the need for federal assistance for the beleaguered airline industry in Canada.
Noting the numerous closures and cancellations of flights around the world, “we believe that the Canadian airline industry should also see similar assistance, whether through forbearance of taxes, landing fees and other charges that form part of the aviation burden in Canada or otherwise until the industry stabilizes. Our industry associations have been and will continue to make these representations to governments. However, we are not awaiting any decision on these measures before implementing our mitigation plan as we believe decisive action is the best course to follow.”