Canadian airline lashes out at air travel advisory

Article content

Put up or shut up.

Article content

That’s the message from WestJet, who decried the federal government’s new COVID-19 travel advisories as neither based in science or recognizant of the aviation industry’s record of maintaining a safe and efficient flying experience for passengers.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Canadian airline lashes out at air travel advisory Back to video

“Air travel is the most tested and protected consumer activity in Canada, every person travelling internationally is tested on average twice throughout their travel journey,” wrote WestJet President and CEO Harry Taylor in a company statement .

“As the only fully-vaccinated air travel sector in the world, WestJet is calling on the government to publicly share the travel-related COVID-19 data that has been used to re-impose the advisory and advice targeted towards fully-vaccinated Canadians and the travel and tourism industry.”

Article content

On Wednesday, the federal government re-introduced advisories against non-essential travel as fears over the Omicron variant reach a fever pitch.

The statement accused the federal government of being out of step with the rest of the world in its COVID-19 aviation policy, as well as disregarding guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) on blanket travel bans.

Article content

Barret Armann, President of Unifor Local 7378 representing Sunwing Airlines pilots, said the advisories come just as the industry is regaining its footing.

“Travel restrictions are not based on any type of science,” he told the Sun. 

“The WHO has stated that travel bans are ineffective — all we have to do is look back at the historical data from 2020 to find out that they were 100% correct.”

He said furloughed airline workers — including his members — continue to return to their jobs with a sense of apprehension over the future.

“Millions spent in a re-start, only to have another stake through the heart of the industry,” he said.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter:    @bryanpassifiume