The union representing 14,000 flight attendants across Canada says the federal government needs to listen and act decisively to make cabin environments safe for workers and the flying public amid the current surge of the omicron variant. To that effect, Wesley Lesosky, President of the Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and CUPE’s Airline Division, has written to federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, demanding the government get serious about the health and safety concerns of airline workers. “The Cancun party flight is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what our members experience Read more
omicron
A published report says senior U.S. politicians last week urged President Joe Biden to keep the border open to fully vaccinated Canadians. The joint, bipartisan letter to Biden and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has sparked speculation about whether Canada or the U.S. have plans to shutter the border again, said the Niagara Independent. “Maintaining an open border to vaccinated travelers has been essential to the functioning economy of New York State and to the wellbeing of New York families,” read the letter, penned by U.S. senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Western New York congressmen Brian Higgins and Chris Jacobs. Read more
The Omicron variant is wreaking havoc with Canadian airlines. A day after Air Canada Vacations said it was trimming flights and packages to a dozen or so sun destinations, Transat A.T. said it’s slashing its winter routes by 30%, and Porter Airlines said they’ll likely have to make cuts of their own. A Canadian Press story on the Global News site today said Transat blamed “the ongoing impact of the Omicron variant and the federal government’s Dec. 15 recommendation against non-essential travel abroad have triggered a wave of trip cancellations.” The cuts are due to stay in place until February Read more
Air Canada Vacations says it’s temporarily suspending some of its winter/early spring schedule due to rising cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. In a letter to members of the industry today, company vice president Nino Montagnese said new virus cases and government regulations have led to “unavoidable disruptions” for ACV. The cancellations are from January 24 to April 30, 2022, he said. “At first glance, 2022 can be mistaken for its predecessor,” he said. “Omicron ushered in a wave of renewed uncertainty that coincided with the holidays and impacted our industry yet again.” Suspended destinations include Antigua, Aruba, Samaná Read more
Doubly vaccinated passengers will no longer have to take pre-departure Covid tests in England beginning Friday morning, the BBC reports. Arriving visitors with two vaccinations also won’t have to go into quarantine while waiting for post-arrival test results, the network said. “If they arrive after 04:00 GMT on Sunday, they will be able to take a lateral flow test on day two and only need a PCR (test) if the result is positive,” the BBC said. The Independent reports that the rules will remain the same for unvaccinated or partly vaccinated arrivals 18 and older. Those travellers need to present Read more
