US: Pelosi talks to airline CEOs, says aid should be part of package

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke with airline and aviation union officials on Friday and said she believes there is bipartisan support for aid to the industry but only as part of a broader stimulus. That approach is at odds with the White House, which yesterday expressed support for a narrow bill to avert thousands of layoffs when a prohibition on job cuts in the industry expires at the end of the month. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows met with airline leaders Thursday and said afterward that the industry needs $25b. He said it should be passed in a separate measure next week. Pelosi has opposed piecemeal virus relief bills as part of her strategy for Democrats to win agreement on a multitrillion-dollar relief measure. She and Oregon Representative Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, spoke to airline executives and labor leaders in separate phone calls Friday. Pelosi said she was glad Republican support for airline jobs relief has finally grown “so that there will be bipartisan support for inclusion in a covid bill that meets the health and economic crisis facing all sectors of our country.” Nicholas Calio, president of the trade group Airlines for America, said after the call that he was encouraged by the bipartisan support for aid. “We had a very productive discussion with Speaker Pelosi and Chairman DeFazio this afternoon, focusing on the urgency for Congress and the Administration to reach a compromise on a package and extend the Payroll Support Program,” Calio said.<br/>