Michelle DaCruz
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 05/02) - First Air is moving its jet flight attendant base to Edmonton and as a result will lay off up to 24 flight attendants by June, union officials were informed Tuesday.

Jim Ballingall, First Air's Ottawa-based vice-president of marketing and sales, said by moving its jet operations to a bigger city the company will make better use of resources and manpower.

Turboprop aircraft flights will be the only service based in Yellowknife by June.

Ballingall said First Air recently hired 38 attendants to service the five-day a week Yellowknife to Vancouver flights and weekly flights from eastern Canada to the Caribbean.

Then the Yellowknife to Vancouver schedule was suspended after two weeks in January due to the post-Sept. 11 economic slow-down.

"The Japanese tourist market really slowed down and unfortunately never picked up again," said Ballingall.

Kevin Beaith, a purser and component president for the airline division of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4040 and Local 4021, said the layoff of 24 attendants is the worst-case scenario.

"There are options in our contract to take leave to avoid layoff or reduce the amount of hours we will work," said Beaith.

"If senior employees take these measures, then it could save some jobs and help junior staffers."

A job-bidding or bumping process has begun and is set to last until the end of April when specific flight attendants will be getting their walking papers -- those with the least seniority will be the first to go.

Beaith said the union was aware that layoffs were imminent, since February when they were approached by the airline.

"We thought they were coming sooner, but the company delayed them until June," Beaith said in a telephone interview from Ottawa.

The official company-wide announcement came Wednesday morning during a conference call from Yellowknife to all First Air bases.

While Beaith could not comment on whether his job will be affected, he said that there are vacancies in Edmonton that are open to all flight attendants.

When asked about how the layoffs were affecting morale Beaith laughed.

"No layoffs ever help morale," he said.

First Air employs 17 flight attendants in Yellowknife, 31 in Edmonton, and 35 in Ottawa.

First Air is wholly owned by 9,000 Inuit of northern Quebec, through the Makivik Corporation. Thirty-four per cent of First Air employees are Inuit.

Ballingal said he does not anticipate that more layoffs are coming for other sectors of the company, but added, "Never say never."