WestJet plane at the Lethbridge Airport. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

WestJet announces more layoffs, organizational changes

Jun 24, 2020 | 12:39 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The CEO of WestJet has once again stated that, due to extraordinary circumstances, they have been left with no choice but to take extraordinary measures.

Global travel and tourism industries have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as most governments have restricted non-essential travel.

Ed Sims says they have made the difficult, but essential decisions to “future-proof” their business.

“In the coming months, we’ll see the company consolidate all contact centre activity to Calgary, contract-out our airport operations in all domestic airports with the exceptions of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Toronto.”

These changes will see 3,333 employees across Canada be permanently laid off.

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“In regards to those airport operation roles, we’ll seek to find a suitable partner who can provide high airport service levels through their commitment to hire as many of our affected WestJetters as possible.”

Approximately 10,000 workers will retain their roles.

Since the pandemic began, WestJet instituted a hiring freeze, stopped all non-essential travel and training, cut salaries for higher-ranking employees, and paused more than 75 per cent of their capital projects.

A video of CEO Ed Sims talking about Wednesday’s announcements can be viewed below.