Canada's Jazz Air to cut 270 employees

The job cuts follow the mid-June move by Jazz Air's primary customer, Air Canada, to cut 2,000 jobs as it reduces its flying by 7 percent.

"The decrease in Air Canada's need for Jazz's services necessitates a reduction in staff. These are difficult times for our industry," Joseph Randell, president and chief executive officer of Jazz, said in a statement Thursday.

The regional carrier has a commercial agreement with Air Canada, in which Air Canada buys all of Air Jazz's fleet capacity. Therefore, Jazz Air is heavily affected by Air Canada's planned service reductions.

Jazz Air, Canada's second largest airline, has already made fuel-saving changes and recently froze hiring and non-critical overtime. It also plans to close its Hamilton, Ontario, operation at the end of July, eliminating 10 daily flights and 14 jobs at the Hamilton airport.

"While Jazz is already a lean organization and is in a reasonable position to manage its current challenges, every effort is being made to reduce our costs and to prepare for what may lie ahead," said Randell.

"Every effort is being made to mitigate job losses, and we hope this downturn in our industry's cycle ends soon. We are in a period of great uncertainty and cannot predict where the price of fuel is going," said Randell.

Jazz Air employs 4,980 people and is based in Halifax.

In addition to soaring fuel prices, Jazz Air said Canadian airlines also contend with federal and provincial fuel excise taxes, security fees and expensive airport charges.

"It is important to recognize the severity of the situation facing the entire aviation industry and ultimately our communities," added Randell.