Sunwing owes over $300m to taxpayers

Sunwing Airlines owes the federal government close to a third of a billion in loans and as part of WestJet Airlines takeover of Sunwing, WestJet will be required to repay most of the money over the next five years. “WestJet will be obligated to repay the bulk of Sunwing’s outstanding federal loans promptly upon closing with the remaining travel credit facility loan repaid at its maturity in 2028,” the department wrote Saturday in a legal notice issued under the Canada Transportation Act. Sunwing's federal debts totalled $316.9m. “Including loans to ensure refunds for passengers whose travel was cancelled due to COVID, Sunwing has received $316.9m in federal financing,” said the notice. “Given Sunwing’s precarious situation following the cancellation of much travel and the need to repatriate passengers during the winter 2022 holidays, there was a significant risk the company would not be able to repay the loans.” Federal loans were issued under the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility program approved by Parliament in 2020 as a pandemic relief measure. Additional non-repayable grants were paid to Sunwing Airlines, Sunwing Travel Group and Sunwing Vacations under the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program. The amount of wage subsidies was not disclosed. Sunwing had been the fourth-largest airline in Canada before the pandemic. WestJet announced its takeover on March 2, 2022, at an undisclosed cost.<br/>