Airline CEOs make final plea for more federal aid at White House

Thursday, 18 Sep, 2020 0

Airline bosses gathered at the White House in a last-ditch plea for more federal funding.

The CEOs from United Airlines, American and Southwest Airlines met with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

They are seeking another $26 billion in financial aid to avoid mass job losses when the current federal bailout runs out at the end of this month.

Even though further airline grants have bipartisan support, Congress has been unable to secure a deal.

However, President Trump has repeatedly said airlines need help even if that means unilateral ‘executive action.’

"We had a very good meeting with the chief of staff. The first CARES Act kept this country out of a depression and I think the only mistake that was made is that it didn’t go far enough and long enough," said Southwest CEO, Gary Kelly.

American’s Doug Parker is still somewhat optimistic lawmakers can thrash out a deal to avoid big job cuts in the industry.

"We airline CEOs are here on behalf of the people that work for us, keeping our country moving when our country is largely paralyzed. Without action they’re going to be furloughed on 1 October," Parker said.

"There’s enormous bipartisan support for an extension of the Payroll Support Program, which would keep those people employed."

The Trump administration is open to a narrow, stand-alone bill that will give financial aid to airlines, Meadows said.

"Compared to $1.5 trillion, it’s a rather small amount of additional assistance that could potentially keep 30,000 to 50,000 workers on the payroll," he said.

Written by Ray Montgomery, US editor

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TravelMole Editorial Team

Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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