Some airports are worried about just trying to survive until we achieve mass vaccination.

Gander International has gone from nine Air Canada flights a day to four destinations, to one per day to Halifax. The airline is closing its stations in Gander and Goose Bay, which means no flights at all, and temporarily suspending its St. John’s-Toronto flight as of January 23.

Reg Wright, CEO of Gander International, is in favour of rapid testing at airports for all passengers. The provincial government is dead set against that approach, choosing instead for a combination of regular COVID testing and self-isolation.

Wright says the ecosystem around travel is not going to wait for herd immunity.

He says we need to be looking for excuses to open safely rather than looking for excuses to stay closed. He wants to see a reassessment with a concrete plan to reopen in June.

Meanwhile, Michael Dean—a Newfoundland worker who travels to Alberta on rotation—calls the latest cuts announced by Air Canada another blow to rotational workers.

He says the temporary suspension of the Toronto-St. John’s flight and the elimination of the Gander-Halifax flight will mean more travel time and hotel stays which translates to more money and time away from family for rotational workers.