EDMONTON – Edmonton International Airport (EIA) is cutting its workforce by up to 40 percent. This is expected to impact up to 100 union and non-union positions at the airport. The workforce reductions are expected to begin after June 30, 2020.
“This is a difficult and sad day for Edmonton Airports, and we regret having to take these steps. Our employees are the foundation of our organization and our contribution to our communities, and we feel this loss profoundly”, said Tom Ruth, President and CEO, Edmonton Airports.
“Our critical operational and financial challenges demanded that we take this course of action to ensure we can continue to provide our region with key services including passenger, cargo and air ambulance flights.”
Last year, EIA moved 8.15 million passengers; in 2020, it is forecast to move approximately 2.7 million passengers. Passenger traffic has reduced by approximately 95 percent and the airport is not expected to return to 2019 passenger traffic levels until at least three years from now.
Revenues have declined by approximately 90 percent in the last two months.
Before implementing the job cuts the EIA introduced voluntary unpaid leave and voluntary early retirement incentives for employees. Capital spending was cut by 75 percent to cover only essential safety and regulatory projects and non-labour costs were reduced by 50 million dollars.
Edmonton International Airport is a self-funded, not-for-profit corporation. It is Canada’s fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and the largest major Canadian airport by land area. The airport handled 42,716 tonnes of air freight in 2019.
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