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Vancouver airport to lay off 25% of staff as it forecasts years-long decrease in flights

Airport authority predicts traffic could dip by as much as 18 million
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Travellers are seen at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C. Friday, March 13, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

The Vancouver International Airport said it will begin laying off 25 per cent of its workforce this week amid heavily reduced traffic.

In a statement issued Monday (May 11), the Airport Authority said one-quarter of its nearly 550 employees would be laid off this week. The employees work in airport operations, finance, engineering, human resources and administration, but the cuts do not include the the broader airport workforce of 26,000 that supports the airport on Sea Island. Both union workers and management will be included in the layoffs. About 10 per cent of those leaving took a voluntary package last week.

“Our current workforce is sized to operate a 26 million passenger airport, and that is simply no longer sustainable,” the airport authority said in a statement.

“At YVR, we now expect to serve between 8 and 15 million passengers per year for the next three years.”

READ MORE: At least three years until ‘cataclysmic’ virus fallout recedes: Air Canada


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katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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