Premier Andrew Furey has reached out to federal officials and municipal leaders about more cuts to Air Canada’s service to Newfoundland and Labrador.

The airline is discontinuing services to Goose Bay and Gander effective January 23 and is temporarily suspending its Toronto-St. John’s route.

Premier Furey says the cuts will have a serious impact on Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

The premier says he spoke with Happy Valley-Goose Bay Mayor Wally Andersen and Gander Mayor Percy Farwell, giving them his assurance that he will “tackle the issue” with the federal government.

He’s also spoken with the new federal Transport Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and NL’s representative in the federal cabinet, Seamus O’Regan, to express this province’s concerns. He referenced the impact on local industry, the economy and the province’s “dear” rotational workers who rely on air services.

Earlier Story

Air Canada is cutting its capacity by another 25 per cent, affecting operations across the country, including St. John’s, Gander and Goose Bay.

The new round of cuts will affect some 1,700 employees across the country.

In October, Air Canada cut services in Sydney, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick, while WestJet suspended 80 per cent of its capacity in Atlantic Canada.

Executive Director of the Atlantic Canada Airports Association, Monette Pasher, says it’s the fourth round of air service cuts in the area in the last 10 months. She worries that they cannot just “flip a switch to turn air service back on” when things get back to normal and says rebuilding air access will be a long road.

Newfoundlander Michael Dean, who works on rotation in Alberta, calls the latest news on cuts to air service disheartening and yet another blow to rotational workers. He laments that if 2020 was bad, 2021 is not off to a great start.