Almost 300 jobs have been lost in Gander as a result of reduced airline activity and the Airport Town is calling on the federal and provincial governments to pitch in and help airlines through the COVID downturn.
Aviation and aerospace employ one in five workers in Gander, commanding salaries about 20% above the mean.
The sector produces about $400-million in total direct and indirect economic output according to the town. The job losses span across aviation, with 60% being airline employees. The remainder is from companies that provide direct airlines support services such as ground handlers.
The 290 job losses do not account for downstream or spin-off impact such as hotels and taxis.
Mayor Percy Farwell says the situation is more dire now than it was 11 months ago.
At peak, the airport hosted upwards of a dozen daily flights to six destinations.
PAL is currently the only airline currently operating out of Gander.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association raised serious public safety concerns to the House of Commmons Transport Committee about anticipated air traffic control tower closures and service reductions as a result of the ongoing NAV Canada Review.
Gander is one of the NAV Canada locations that will see job cuts.
CATCA President and CEO Doug Best says they understand that NAV Canada has seen a significant decline in revenue due to the pandemic and that safety cannot be compromised.
100 air traffic controllers received layoff notices last month severely impacting services in control centres including Gander, Moncton, Montreal and Edmonton. CATCA says despite assurances from NAV Canada that no decision would be made until the review was completed and approved by Transport Canada, employees at all seven tower sites under review have already received letters from NAV Canada announcing their intention to close the towers.
The affected towers are St. Jean, Windsor, Sault Ste. Marie, Regina, Fort McMurray, Prince George and Whitehorse. Many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians fly in and out of Fort McMurray regularly on rotation.
Best says the letters confirm that the outcome of the review was pre-determined and they’re calling on Transport Canada to halt the process because of NAV Canada’s failure to act reasonably and in good faith.