Air Transat gradually resuming flights - Flight attendants remain concerned about their job future Français
MONTREAL, June 11, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Transat A.T., which stopped flying on April 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, announced today its plan to start resuming flights on July 23, pending the relaxation of travel restrictions.
The union representing Air Transat flight attendants views this as excellent news. However, these recalls to work will affect only a small minority of its members. For the vast majority, returning to work could be a matter of months or even years.
"We expect that only 250 of the 2,000 flight attendants will return to work when flights resume. Considering the impact of the pandemic on our industry, we hope that flight attendants will not be forgotten by Canadians, and we call upon the government to take action to protect these jobs," said Julie Roberts, union president of the Air Transat Component of CUPE.
Today, to ensure that the flight attendants are not forgotten, CUPE's Air Transat Component launched a campaign aimed at the Federal Government and the Canadian public, demanding concrete actions, as it is essential that jobs in the airline sector be preserved. We should not forget that flight attendants have always been committed to the safety of Canadians, particularly during the repatriation flights at the start of the crisis in March.
To view the campaign videos: https://bit.ly/2zoUfrv
Air Transat flight attendants are emergency specialists whose primary role is to ensure passenger safety. They are divided into three local unions, corresponding to their three bases: CUPE 4041 (Montreal-YUL), CUPE 4047 (Toronto-YYZ) and CUPE 4078 (Vancouver-YVR). The Air Transat component oversees these three local unions.
In total, CUPE represents nearly 15,000 members in air transportation in Canada, including Air Transat, Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, Sunwing, CALM Air, Canadian North, WestJet, WestJet Encore, Flair Air, Swoop, Cathay Pacific and First Air, Air Georgian.
With nearly 122,000 members in Quebec, CUPE is present in 11 sectors, including social services, communications, education, universities, energy, municipalities, government corporations and public agencies, air and land transport, the mixed sector and maritime transport. It is the largest affiliate of the FTQ.
SOURCE Canadian Union of Public Employees (FTQ)
Ronald Boisrond, Communications - SCFP, 514 802-2802
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