Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Trump tweets willingness to aid airlines
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Shares in major U.S. airlines jumped at the opening bell, helping pull the broader market along for most of the day, after President Donald Trump signaled a willingness to help the decimated carriers in seemingly contradictory tweets.
“The House & Senate should IMMEDIATELY Approve 25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll Support,” Trump tweeted late Tuesday. “I will sign now!”
However, that message followed tweets earlier Tuesday in which Trump said he had told his representatives to end negotiations on a broader relief package until after the election next month.
On Wednesday, U. S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled openness to an airline-relief bill in a call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Mnuchin “inquired about a standalone airlines bill” in the call, Pelosi’s spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted.
Shares of both United Airlines and American Airlines rose 4.3% and Delta Air Lines close up 3.5% Wednesday. JetBlue jumped 6.8% and Southwest rose 2.7%.
The entire transportation industry has been ravaged by a failure in U.S. to check covid-19 infections. The largest four U.S. carriers have lost more than $10 billion combined.
Airlines just began furloughing more than 32,000 employees after a federal prohibition on job cuts tied to funding expired at the end of September.
American and United said they could reverse the furloughs if they get additional help.
The White House included $20 billion for airlines in a $1.6 trillion covid-19 relief proposal, moving closer to House Democrats’ $2.2 trillion plan. Trump’s contradictory tweets Tuesday
night further muddled the stalemate between the two parties with the election less than four weeks away.
Airlines and their unions have lobbied for money to keep workers on airline payrolls through March. They received $25 billion, mostly in cash, to pay employees through Sept. 30 in exchange for avoiding layoffs or furloughs.
Tens of thousands of airline employees have already volunteered to take early retirement or buyouts.
However, air travel is down 70% compared with last year and major U.S. carriers say they will need to slash that many jobs and potentially more.
Trump also suggested that lawmakers come up with $135 billion for small businesses and said the bill could be paid for with “unused funds from the [Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security] Act.”
Trump’s tweets late Tuesday flew just hours after another that all but quashed any possibility of a broader relief package before the Nov. 3 election, saying he had ordered his representatives to end negotiations until after Election Day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 376 points Tuesday.
Without more stimulus, economists believe growth will slow for the remainder of the year.