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Anticipate unavoidable flight disruptions says expert as labour shortages persist


October 27, 2022  By The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The airline industry is warning of “unavoidable disruptions” in the upcoming holiday travel season as labour shortages persist.

New job vacancy numbers from Statistics Canada on Thursday show the country’s tight labour market continuing in August as vacancies were little changed from July.

Transport industry representatives said at a Wednesday evening parliamentary committee meeting that problems retaining certain workers such as pilots and air traffic controllers persist.

Air Line Pilots Association Canada president Tim Perry told MPs that airlines are not doing enough to retain pilots because they have resisted paying pilots more and instead hoped to attract temporary foreign workers.

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Canadian Air Traffic Control Association president Nick von Schoenberg told the committee there is a desperate shortage of air traffic controllers that has put unacceptable demands on workers because there are no longer enough controllers to meet requirements.

Von Schoenberg said the air traffic controller shortage existed before the pandemic and will not be addressed in time for next summer, but may be mitigated with some creative solutions.

News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., 2021

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