JetBlue CEO warns of ‘day of reckoning’ for airlines as coronavirus continues to devastate demand

JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said Wednesday that the US airline industry needs additional government aid, warning it may face “a day of reckoning” as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage travel demand. “As we get to the end of the first CARES Act period, through to September, we’re still going to be at a fraction of our normal levels. And so airlines are going to have to reset,” Hayes said. “It has the potential to cause a significant amount of job losses in the industry and an extension of the CARES Act for the industry would prevent that,” he said. Hayes’ comments Wednesday come days after a majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives signaled their support for a six-month extension of federal aid to the airline industry. Negotiations are continuing on Capitol Hill over the shape and size of the next coronavirus relief package. Congress appropriated about $32b in federal payroll aid for the US airline industry as part of the $2.2t CARES Act passed in March. As a condition of the assistance, airlines were prohibited from laying off or reducing the pay rates of employees through the end of September. <br/>