Air Canada is cutting 1,700 jobs as well as 200 employees who are impacted at its Express carriers.

The job cuts come as the airline reduces capacity by an additional 25 per cent. Air Canada says it is working with its unions on mitigation programs.

The Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Air Canada says they are adjusting their schedule for transborder, Caribbean and domestic routes to better reflect expected demand and to reduce cash burn.

Lucie Guillemette says implementation by the Federal and provincial government of increased travel restrictions and other measures, in addition to the existing quarantine requirements, they have seen an immediate impact. With this latest reduction, capacity in the first quarter of 2021 will be about 20 per cent of what Air Canada operated in the first quarter of 2019, pre-COVID-19.