Jazz Air plans to chop 5 percent of its staff in response to cuts announced last month by its main customer, Air Canada, to cope with surging fuel prices, Jazz said on Thursday.
Jazz Air, the regional feeder carrier for Air Canada, said its moves -- which will mean 270 job losses and a 5 percent cut in capacity -- are necessary to match resources with its reduced expectations for revenues.
The operator of smaller regional jets and turboprop aircraft has a symbiotic relationship with Air Canada, operating under a capacity purchase agreement with the country's largest airline.
Staff cuts will affect all areas of the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based organization, including pilots, flight attendants, customer service agents, maintenance and administrative staff as well as managers, Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stuart said.
Deeper cuts could be in the offing if Air Canada is forced to squeeze its service and work force more, she said.
The capacity and staff reductions are the latest cost-cutting measures in an industry being buffeted by high costs as oil prices creep closer to USD$150 a barrel, more than double the level of a year ago.
Air Canada said on June 17 it will reduce its capacity to US destinations by 13 percent and between Canadian cities by 2 percent in its autumn and winter schedules.
All told, Air Canada is cutting 2,000 jobs, or 7 percent of its work force. That is on top of its addition of fuel surcharges on fares earlier in the year.
Stuart said Jazz has yet to determine which routes will be cut, or frequency reduced, as Air Canada has not finalized its plan. Before the current round of cuts, Jazz was preparing to end service to Hamilton, Ontario, and Comox, British Columbia.
There are no plans to park any of the airline's 137 aircraft, she said.
Until the end of May, Jazz and Air Canada were partly owned by ACE Aviation, but ACE has sold its remaining interest in Jazz. It still owns 75 percent of Air Canada.
Home 
