Air Canada has quietly announced that it intends to temporarily lay off 345 flight attendants at the start of March.

As a result of the cuts, there will be one less flight attendant working in business class on each transatlantic flight.

Staff were notified about the job cuts on Friday, said a spokesperson for the Toronto branch of the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Cidalia Ribeiro, president of CUPE Local 4092, told CTV.ca that the airline had cited a need to cut costs as the reasoning behind the cuts.

"They're just saying it's a cost reduction exercise and they're cutting back service on some of our overseas flights," she told CTV.ca in a phone interview on Saturday afternoon.

Ribeiro said at least half of the affected flight attendants are based out of Toronto.

She said the union had not been expecting the cuts.

"We're devastated," she said. "It was not anticipated."

The company informed its employees that the layoffs are expected to be temporary, Ribeiro said.

"They're describing them as temporary," she said.

"They believe that people will be recalled as early as April of this year."

CUPE national president Paul Moist told CTV.ca the cuts come at a time when Air Canada is dealing with a high number of complaints about the airline's service during the Christmas season.

"We don't think these further cuts are going to help," he said.

He said the cuts may also make upcoming bargaining with the airline more difficult.

The airline could not immediately be reached for comment by CTV.ca.

According to the Air Canada website, the company employs about 23,900 full-time employees.