Transat A.T. Inc. has announced it has temporarily laid off about 70 per cent of its entire workforce in Canada.
The layoffs affect about 3,600 staff, including all flight crew personnel.
The company says some of the layoffs are effective immediately while others will take effect following one-month advanced notice.
The final Air Transat flight prior to the full suspension of its operations will be April 1.
Earlier this month, Air Transat said it would be halting all of its flights until April 30 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, the company said its operations are being gradually stopped in order to enable Transat to repatriate as many of its customers as possible to their home country.
“These measures have forced us to totally suspend our operations. We have done this in such a way that none of our customers are stuck far from home, and we are in the process of bringing them back. We expect to have finished doing this by April 1, and we will then totally halt our flights,” said Transat President and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Eustache in a news release. “At the same time, in order to safeguard the company, we have unfortunately had to proceed with layoffs that affect a significant portion of our employees. We are doing this with great sadness and we hope that everyone will be able to return to work as quickly as possible.”