Ottawa considering credit “bridge” for Air Canada, WestJet

Canada’s federal government is considering financial aid options for Canada’s largest airlines as flight operations continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

In an interview with BNN Bloomberg on Friday (April 17th), Finance Minister Bill Morneau hinted that credit may be coming to help airlines such as WestJet and Air Canada so that they may form a “bridge” to better times.

"We've heard credit is an issue for all sizes of organizations," Morneau told BNN Bloomberg. “We're going to have to be thinking about those largest of firms, the firms like WestJet or Air Canada. Organizations that are going to need a bridge at this time and credit availability for them in many cases will be challenging. That's what we're trying to make sure we're able to provide."

Morneau’s comments came after Ottawa announced $2.45 billion in aid for Canada’s energy sector, including $1.7 billion aimed at cleaning up abandoned and orphan oil and gas wells.

Morneau didn’t provide a dollar amount in terms of how much credit would be available, but said that it would likely be "demand driven.”

Both Air Canada and WestJet have drastically reduced their operations in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, directing their efforts at maintaining domestic and cargo routes and repatriating Canadians stuck abroad during the crisis.

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