CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Major U.S. airline companies applied on Friday for payroll grants from the U.S. Treasury suggested to keep employees employed while airline companies ride out their most difficult crisis in history due to the coronavirus, though some alerted the funds are “not enough.”
FILE PICTURE: Delta Air Lines guest planes are seen parked due to flight reductions made to slow the spread of coronavirus illness (COVID-19), at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. March 25,2020 REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage
American Airlines Group Inc ( AAL.O), United Airlines Holdings Inc ( UAL.O), Delta Air Lines Inc ( DAL.N) and JetBlue Airways Corp ( JBLU.O) each stated they had submitted grant applications but did not divulge how much they asked for or what they provided in return for funds.
Treasury had actually asked business to propose financial instruments such as warrants or equity options as possible taxpayer compensation for as much as $32 billion in payroll grants for airline companies, freight providers and airport specialists under the CARES Act passed by Congress last week.
Treasury set a 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) Friday due date to speed up the grants. There is a second last due date on April27
In a memo to staff members, Delta President Ed Bastian said the business had actually requested its share of worker