The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is due to end on 30 September and the day after has been dubbed “terrible Thursday” by aviation analyst Helane Becker.
The date is dreaded by many airline workers because airlines can furlough or layoff staff with impunity as soon as the CARES Act employment protections expire. Airlines that accepted US Government loans and grants were prevented from laying off staff before that.
It is rumoured that more than 75,000 federally mandated notices of potential furloughs have already been sent out to staff of major airlines.
To avoid these potential furloughs, labour unions are seeking to extend the payroll-support provisions of the CARES Act until 31 March 2021. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), and eleven other unions are pushing for a “clean extension,” or to extend the programme as it is by six months.
Whether either of these options comes to fruition remains to be seen. But the impact if they don’t will see the regional division of airlines like American Airlines and Southwest Airlines with less staff just as passenger numbers start to rise.
It’s a balancing act that has yet to be resolved. With regional airports across the US struggling to fill their gates with passengers, having a constant and steadily increasing number of flights to their hub is critical. It remains to be seen if President Trump will play the ‘long-game’ and support regional airports and flights or, as in the past, will he assume that the regionals are big enough to stand on their own feet? For many state-side operators, I don’t think that time has arrived yet.
