American Airlines backs unions in quote to extend billions in federal help through March

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American Airlines backs unions in bid to extend billions in federal aid through March

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A member of a landing crew strolls past American Airlines airplanes parked at eviction throughout the coronavirus illness (COVID-19) break out at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, April 5, 2020.

Joshua Roberts | Reuters

American Airlines’ magnates on Wednesday backed efforts to extend billions in federal help to safeguard air travel tasks through March as the pandemic’s influence on travel threatens 10s of countless positions.

Some $32 billion in federal help was reserved to safeguard tasks in the U.S. airline company market, and it forbade companies from cutting positions through Sept. 30 under the CARES Act relief plan that legislators passed in March.

But with that due date looming and a rise in U.S. coronavirus cases harming a nascent healing in travel need, some legislators and labor unions are looking for extra help. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act needs companies to alert personnel about possible layoffs or momentary furloughs usually 60 days ahead of time, suggesting airline companies are starting to alert employees about prospective furloughs this fall.

Earlier today, bipartisan House legislators, led by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D.-Ore., chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure prompted in a letter to other members of Congress to extend financing for the program through March 2021, which labor unions required late last month.

The Trump administration and drugmakers are fast-tracking deal with a Covid-19 vaccine and want to get one authorized for circulation as early as completion of the year. 

By March 2021, “there would most certainly be more demand for air travel, and along with that demand, much less need for involuntary furloughs throughout the industry,” composed the airline company’s CEO Doug Parker and its president, Robert Isom, in a note to personnel, alerting workers about 25,000 prospective furloughs. 

“This is a union-led initiative across our industry, but American is supportive of any legislation that would protect our team’s jobs during these extraordinary times,” they stated.