Canada’s commercial airlines have been hit hard by COVID-19, with passenger levels down as much as 90 per cent thanks to a combination of travel restrictions and fear of catching the illness.
Passengers have also filed a handful of proposed class-action lawsuits and three petitions garnering more than 100,000 signatures that call for customer reimbursement.“The air sector cannot respond to these challenges on its own, given the unprecedented impacts on its operations,” Garneau said in a statement.
“Before we spend one penny of taxpayer money on airlines, we will ensure Canadians get their refunds,” he said. “We will ensure Canadians and regional communities retain air connections to the rest of Canada.” “It’s the starter pistol, but it’s by no means a fait accompli,” Jack said. “We’ll be watching these negotiations closely. There is now a concrete, on-the-record commitment from the government that we expect them to honour.”
The pandemic has devastated the airline industry, with billions of dollars in losses for Canadian carriers amid grounded flights and tight international borders.
So, people are in effect being given refunds with tax dollars.
Air Canada just bought another airline. They shouldn't get a penny
As long as AC gets the most money and preferential treatment - as usual / comme d’habitude...
I guess Canada will file for bankruptcy soon
Guess I should buy Onex stock soon. Taxpayers’ money coming your way.
'Ottawa' = taxpayer
Swoop need to start issuing refunds - over six months since they cancelled my flight
What is the estimated value of all cancelled flights that have to be reimbursed by the big 2 Canadian airlines?