The fear of the Post COVID19 World looms large. In response to the decreasing air travel rate, the YVR airport of Canada is reportedly expecting to lay off 25 percent of its staff of 550 members. The layoffs will impact the employees working directly for the community-based, not for profit YVR Airport Authority in departments that include operations, finance, engineering, human resources and administration.

Reportedly, the airport property houses another 26,000 workers employed by hundreds of other companies that might also face the effects of the pandemic that is still wreaking havoc worldwide.

YVR’s prediction comes as a result of air travel reducing by 90 percent over the last few months. This significant drop is a result of countries imposing mandated lockdowns and sealing off its international borders. Many officials believe that even post travel relaxation, travelers will resist traveling for leisure purposes for some time. On the other side, business officials have been able to tackle this geographical gap with digital conferences in the past few months.

2019 was a landmark year for the Vancouver Airport with record breaking numbers of 26.4 million passengers in a year. It looked forward to more record-breaking years as it continued work on a multi-year, $9.1 billion expansion to accommodate more expected passenger growth. This anticipation had led the airport to do onboarding proportionately, but as this pandemic looms long, the operational requirements are predicted to be significantly less for the next 2-3 years.

Earlier, YVR president Craig Richmond said he expected 50 per cent of the 26,000 “other” airport workers to lose their jobs. Officials say that the current staff could meet the requirements of 26 million passengers, but as that number declines, operationally it would not be possible to accommodate everyone. Many international companies have declared bankruptcy amidst this crisis, thus cutbacks seem like a rational decision.

On the flip side, experts believe that the numbers should improve post 2-3 years of time frame. The ripple effect will get nullified with the economic growth and financial revival as seen before after crises such as 9/11 and the mortgage crisis of 2007-09.

SOURCES:https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/covid-19-vancouver-international-airport-issues-layoff-notices/

https://globalnews.ca/news/6930047/layoffs-vancouver-airport-air-travel-decline/