Airline CEOs explain flight cancellations to Congress after taking $54b in taxpayer aid
Top airline executives on Wednesday told a Senate panel that a tight labor market and difficulty convincing some workers to pick up shifts contributed to mass flight cancellations this year, despite the $54 billion in taxpayer aid the carriers took to cover their labor costs when travel demand collapsed in the pandemic. The CEOs of American Airlines, United and Southwest, and Delta’s chief of operations testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that the aid helped them survive the crisis and that they’re now ramping up hiring. Senators during the more than three-hour hearing questioned executives on airlines’ hiring trouble, 5G, fuel availability, myriad fees and vaccine mandates though it was called to assess the industry’s bailout, its largest. “I can sum up the [Payroll Support Program] in two words: It worked,” said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said. US airlines lost a record $35 billion last year but executives say the Payroll Support Program, which prohibited them from laying off workers, was a bridge to get them to the point when air travel demand started to recover in earnest. Travel at the start of the pandemic fell more than 95%. “It’s not an exaggeration to say the program saved the airline industry, which Congress and the administration recognized as critical infrastructure that is as essential to the economy as it is unique,” American’s CEO, Doug Parker, wrote in his testimony. Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in written remarks that by “keeping employees on staff, it reduced the time that would have been required to train people coming back to work – an effort that takes months and significant resources.” While airlines that accepted the aid couldn’t lay workers off, they significantly reduced head count by urging employees to take voluntary measures like buyouts, leaves of absence or temporarily idled workers in exchange for reduced pay. The payroll aid was mostly in the form of grants that don’t have to be paid back as well as some loans.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2021-12-16/general/airline-ceos-explain-flight-cancellations-to-congress-after-taking-54b-in-taxpayer-aid
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Airline CEOs explain flight cancellations to Congress after taking $54b in taxpayer aid
Top airline executives on Wednesday told a Senate panel that a tight labor market and difficulty convincing some workers to pick up shifts contributed to mass flight cancellations this year, despite the $54 billion in taxpayer aid the carriers took to cover their labor costs when travel demand collapsed in the pandemic. The CEOs of American Airlines, United and Southwest, and Delta’s chief of operations testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that the aid helped them survive the crisis and that they’re now ramping up hiring. Senators during the more than three-hour hearing questioned executives on airlines’ hiring trouble, 5G, fuel availability, myriad fees and vaccine mandates though it was called to assess the industry’s bailout, its largest. “I can sum up the [Payroll Support Program] in two words: It worked,” said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said. US airlines lost a record $35 billion last year but executives say the Payroll Support Program, which prohibited them from laying off workers, was a bridge to get them to the point when air travel demand started to recover in earnest. Travel at the start of the pandemic fell more than 95%. “It’s not an exaggeration to say the program saved the airline industry, which Congress and the administration recognized as critical infrastructure that is as essential to the economy as it is unique,” American’s CEO, Doug Parker, wrote in his testimony. Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in written remarks that by “keeping employees on staff, it reduced the time that would have been required to train people coming back to work – an effort that takes months and significant resources.” While airlines that accepted the aid couldn’t lay workers off, they significantly reduced head count by urging employees to take voluntary measures like buyouts, leaves of absence or temporarily idled workers in exchange for reduced pay. The payroll aid was mostly in the form of grants that don’t have to be paid back as well as some loans.<br/>
