The Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport. (Staff photo)
The Greater Moncton Romeo Leblanc International Airport is one of four affected by WestJet cutbacks.
As of November 2nd, the airline is indefinitely suspending flights to Moncton, Fredericton, Charlottetown and Sydney.
President and CEO Bernard Leblanc says he wasn’t surprised considering all of the travel restrictions.
“We didn’t have any prior notice, but I think given all of the travel restrictions, limiting who can travel, I don’t know if it was unexpected. It’s very difficult to operate at those levels of service,” he says.
Prior to the pandemic, WestJet was flying out of Greater Moncton three times daily, but that was reduced to four times a week.
With the indefinite suspension, that leaves fewer airline choices for travellers.
“I think the biggest impact is it gives our customers less options in terms of travel. Financially, it is not as huge of an impact because of the reductions that had already been put into place,” Leblanc says.
Leblanc says the pandemic forced temporary layoffs at the airport and a reduction in services just to keep them above water.
“Our challenge will be knowing when we can recuperate the service, when there are people willing and interested in travelling again and allowed to do so. So, I think this is something, with the biggest risk is when we can get WestJet back,” he says.
WestJet is temporarily laying off eight employees from Greater Moncton as a result of its indefinite suspension of flights. Flights are also being reduced to the Halifax and St. John’s airports.
