Statement by Minister Alghabra on the firefighting staffing shortage at the St. John's International Airport

ST. JOHN'S, NL, Jan. 18, 2022 /CNW/ -

Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, issued the following statement about the shortage of firefighting staff at the St. John's International Airport:

"On January 18, the St. John's International Airport announced that there are insufficient firefighting staff levels to continue certain levels of commercial operations.

"Until the airport can address the firefighting staffing levels, commercial passenger flights, as well as other flight operations, will see interruptions and cancelations.

"This airport provides an essential service to Newfoundland-and-Labrador. The consequences of staffing issues are completely unacceptable.

"I want to reiterate that my priority remains the safety of passengers and of operations.

"Both parties must take any necessary steps to find a solution that will keep operations ongoing and safe. We will continue to monitor the efforts of the airport to get back to full service."

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SOURCE Transport Canada

Laurel Lennox, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport, Ottawa, [email protected]; Media Relations, Transport Canada, Ottawa, 613-993-0055, [email protected]