Trump endorses extended payroll protection for airline workers to avoid COVID-19 layoffs

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he'd support an extension of payroll support for airlines as the coronavirus pandemic continues to eat away at their business. Trump's support comes after 16 senators signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., asking for the extension to spare potentially tens of thousands of airline jobs that are at risk after current funding is exhausted at the end of September. "We don’t want to lose our airlines," Trump said Wednesday. "If they’re looking at that, whether they’re Republican or Democrat, I’d certainly be in favor." Unions representing airline employees and more than 200 members of the House of Representatives have supported an extension of CARES Act funding for airlines, which received $25b from Congress when it passed the law in March. "This provision is the most successful jobs program of COVID relief and maintains service to all of our communities," said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. "This provision was adopted in March with bipartisan support and has even broader support now as a proven program."<br/>