U.S. airlines have already been bailed out twice and are pining for a third bailout. While negotiations are ongoing, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg expressed both an openness and confirmation of discussion on including a third bailout in a pending Congressional relief bill.
Is A Third Airline Bailout Coming?
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Buttigieg essentially conceded a third bailout is coming to airline workers. Underscoring that federal aid should be used to help airlines avoid “massive” furloughs, he all but promised the question is not if, but when.
Yet timing is key and Buttigieg was less candid about whether the CARES Act would be extended in the current $1.9 trillion relief bill Congress is moving to enact. Asked if it would be a “mistake” not to include an air transport bailout in the new stimulus bill, Buttigieg said:
“Look, that’s part of the conversation going on in the administration and with Congress over a package that has many different elements. But I can tell you, this ask from the aviation sector is being taken very seriously.”
Major airlines and union leaders like Sara Nelson have pushed for billions of dollars in the form of a new bailout, which would spare airlines from furloughing workers or forcing pay cuts.
With vaccinations rolling out and new cases dropping rapidly in the USA, there is arguably light at the end of the tunnel unlike ever before. In that sense, a limited bailout under the right terms is seems far more appropriate than the second bailout.
Nevertheless, it is worthy to remind ourselves that the second bailout awarded the equivalent of $333,333.33 per actual job saved over a six-month period. Obviously, that did not go to the workers…
CONCLUSION
I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that there will be another bailout. With a Democratically-controlled Congress and White House, this is actually a given. Will it be included in the omnibus relief bill which may hit President Biden’s test within days? In a way, I hope it is. If this relief is inevitable, better to stop the demoralizing discussions between labor unions and airlines and just gear up for what will hopefully be a robust summer of travel.
image: Gage Skidmore
Pathetic. I really hate that we have no bloody choice in our politics.
We get grifters on both sides of the aisle. They just grift in different ways.
Also hope buttigieg is getting a list of all employees with more than two kids so they can get their appointments for castration.
@Debit…too bad your dad wasn’t castrated well before your conception.
The world is much better off without “progressive” religious cultists.
By the way, of course the Dems are ramming this through as part of the overall package. They want to hide as much govt cash in a bigger bill so they can be more sneaky in doling it out to their leftist supporters from the fraudulent 2020 election. It’s fun being ruled by an oligarchy, eh? 🙂
Sweet gig to be an airline. You keep record profits. Taxpayers bail you out in hard times. Rinse. Repeat.
Sorry, restaurants, theaters, and other companies directly affected by the pandemic. You’re not special enough (read: you need better lobbyists).
It’s way over my pay grade to understand the true complexities of these airline bailouts. But I just can’t help but feel as if I have had my pocket picked on Main St over and over this year. And the thief not only takes my money but also devalues my miles.
Again, I am naive to these things….but didn’t the Obama auto bailout include taxpayers becoming, essentially, shareholders? And all that money was paid back? Why is this not the same?
Too soon for bailout 3. Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, or Spirit should first takeover one of the big 3, Delta, America West, or Texas International (United).
LOL!!!! And the naive liberals thought the problem was Trump. Now the liberals have full control and turned the printer to print money and distribute to everyone. As my wise grandpa used to say: “Nothing in life is free. Someone will pay for it.”
Do you know this guy?
https://www.reddit.com/r/ParlerWatch/comments/lf1pmy/wanted_by_the_fbi_for_gouging_a_capital_police
All you white Republican males look and behave similarly.
Are you enjoying life in your basement? 🙂
Right, because the last guy was such a fiscal hawk…how quickly you forget. Oh the myth of the “fiscal conservative”.
Let some fail. This is capitalism, you can’t have all upside, you need the downside to create opportunity for others.
Why stop there, Pete? Why not carry them all the way into retirement age and throw in the medical and travel benefits as well ? This way everyone else on unemployment and facing job loss in every other employment sector can feel good that airline employees are taken care of and that they are so “essential” while they stand around looking at one another with few flights and airplanes in sight. Unbelievable and Ridiculous.
How do you pronounce Buttigieg?
We keep limiting travel, and we keep bailing out airlines because of said travel limits.
And I’m supposed to be happy with yet another stimmy? What kind of effed up system is this?
and then there will be another one since Pete B wants everyone to get a Covid test before every domestic flight!!!(“since we do not know how safe air travel is” as per his statement on the news tonight…~If you have no symptoms Insurance will not pay for the test and if you need results asap . a private lab will have to do it @???over $100 a flight…Nuts hope you Libs are very Happy