Let us fly or bail us out, airlines say in fight with Trudeau

Canadian airlines saw their hopes for an industry rescue plan dashed by PM Justin Trudeau. Now they’re trying to get his government to relax travel restrictions it imposed in the early days of the pandemic. So far, they are losing the fight. Canada has exited many of the lockdown measures it adopted in March as the outbreak eases, killing fewer than a dozen people a day in the country of 38m. Airports, though, remain deserted. Data from security checkpoints show passenger traffic in the first 26 days of July was 10% of last year’s levels, compared with 26% in the US. The slow recovery is because Trudeau’s government has kept up the barricades, Air Canada says. Unlike in Europe, Canada’s travel restrictions have changed little since March. Foreign tourists are not allowed, even from places with few virus cases. Most business travel is banned and everyone coming in must stay isolated for 14 days, including returning Canadian residents with no symptoms, under threat of potential jail time if they break quarantine. “We need to start being able to earn some revenue,” Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu said in a video call this month with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “Right now it is the government that’s preventing us from doing that.” Analysts expect a 91% revenue drop when the carrier reports Q2 earnings Friday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The carrier has been spearheading a campaign urging the government to follow Europe’s gradual reopening. <br/>