A member of a ground crew walks past American Airlines planes parked at the gate during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, U.S., April 5, 2020.
Joshua Roberts | Reuters
The Treasury Department on Tuesday said airlines could receive larger federal loans than previously expected after some carriers opted out, freeing up more funds in the program.
Congress in March approved $25 billion in federal loans for U.S. passenger airlines to help them weather the coronavirus pandemic, which has kept air travel demand at roughly 30% of last year’s levels.
Despite preliminary agreements, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines have said they ultimately don’t plan to pursue the loans, thanks to other sources of financing. Delta, for example, earlier this month said it was able to upsize a debt sale backed by its SkyMiles frequent flyer program to $9 billion from the $6.5 billion it planned.
Airlines have until Wednesday to decide whether to take the federal loans.
Seven airlines — Alaska, American, Frontier, JetBlue, Hawaiian, SkyWest and United are planning to take the loans, the Treasury Department said.
American last week said it secured $5.5 billion from the program, more than the $4.75 billion it had expected to receive. The Fort Worth-based carrier said it expects it will have up to $7.5 billion available, the maximum amount for a single carrier.
U.S. passenger airlines also received portions of $25 billion in payroll support, mostly grants, from the government. Those funds prohibit carriers from cutting jobs until Oct. 1, but in just hours, the airlines, mostly American and United, plan to cut more than 30,000 jobs.
Airlines and their labor unions are urging Congress for an additional $25 billion that would preserve sector jobs through March 31.