Air Canada is laying off more than 5,000 flight attendants, a union official says, as the country's largest airline cuts routes amid plunging demand due to the Coronavirus.

The Montreal-based carrier is laying off about 3,600 employees, plus 1,549 flight attendants at its low-cost subsidiary Rouge, according to Wesley Lesosky, head of the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The layoffs will take effect by April and affect roughly 60 per cent of flight attendants, Lesosky said.