US: Federal help for battered US travel industry being weighed

The US travel industry, which has been badly hit by a plunge in sales caused by the coronavirus, could be getting some help from the federal government. The Trump administration is discussing ways to defer taxes on the airline, cruise and hospitality industries as a way to limit economic damage from the outbreak of the virus. Talks are still in a very preliminary stage, according to officials. "We're worried about certain sectors of the economy, airlines coming to mind, ... that might need some help," said Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council said Friday. He said, "We're looking for targeted measures that will do the most good in a short period of time." The CEOs of the nation's major airlines met with President Donald Trump, VP Mike Pence, and other members of the administration including Kudlow on Wednesday. "The airline people who came in were terrific, they didn't ask for a bailout," Kudlow said. He said he couldn't get into details of what kind of help might be provided, and he stressed that the administration still believes US economy is strong, despite the recent sell-off in stocks. "We might be worried about some sectors of the economy that are really hard hit," Kudlow said. "There are a lot of things we can do for cash flow purposes, possibly defer [taxes]." Commercial aviation taxes and fees reached $26billion in 2019, or about $71m per day. Billions of that total are paid by airline passengers, not the airlines, although lifting the fees and taxes would reduce the price of airline tickets and could spur increased demand. <br/>