Air Canada Rehires 2,600 Employees for the First Time Since COVID-19

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Air Canada, Canada's largest airline, is launching a large-scale hiring for the first time since massive layoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 10th (local time), Air Canada announced in a statement that it will rehire 2,600 employees. The plan is to prepare for the expected increase in air travel demand.

The rehiring will include various positions, including flight attendants, and the company stated that the rehired employees will gradually return to work over this month and next month.

Peter Fitzgerald, Air Canada spokesperson, explained the background of the rehiring, saying, "As the recent COVID-19 outbreak declines and vaccination rates increase, government economic restrictions are also being eased."

He added that air travel and tourism demand are expected to increase accordingly.

Since March last year, when COVID-19 began in earnest, Air Canada had cut 16,500 employees in multiple rounds, reducing more than half of its total workforce by early this year.

It also suspended a significant number of domestic and international routes.

However, in April, the government decided to provide bailout funds amounting to 5.9 billion Canadian dollars (approximately 5.4 trillion Korean won), which is known to have provided an opportunity to overcome the crisis.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.