Airlines receive back thousands of workers after Congress passes stimulus bill

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In a letter Tuesday morning, United CEO Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart said their company intends to restore “temporary employment” to thousands of unemployed employees.

“This is certainly good news for our economy, our industry and our airline – but it’s especially good news for those who have been without pay and can’t wait to get it back,” Kirby and Hart wrote. .

American Airlines laid off 9,000 workers in September. The company told its workers on Tuesday that it expects to receive a retroactive payment by Christmas Eve, according to a letter sent to CNN Business by e-mail. CEO Doug Parker also thanked elected officials for restoring the Payroll Support Program.

“We appreciate the trust that Congress and the administration place in us by expanding this additional support, and we proudly accept the responsibility that comes with it,” Parker wrote in a separate statement Tuesday morning.
The new bill was celebrated by the Flight Assistance Association-CWA, the union that represents nearly 50,000 flight attendants working for 20 airlines. AFA International President Sara Nelson says union members have spent the past three months sending thousands of calls and letters to lawmakers and organizing events in 24 cities in support of the measure.

“This would not have been possible without the incredible solidarity of flight attendants, our entire union and the industry,” Nelson wrote in a letter to union members on Tuesday. “This is just an advance payment for what is needed for recovery,” she added. “We need everyone ready to fight forward.”

The new incentive package also extends the ceiling of the previous executive compensation measure and prohibits the redemption of shares, according to the AFA.

Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, mentioned that the employment of the mentioned workers will remain temporary. He stressed that the exemption bill does not change the market challenges still facing the industry due to Covid-19.

“We do not expect customer demand to change too much from now until the end of the first quarter of 2021,” Kirby added. “The truth is that we simply do not see anything in the data that shows a huge difference in bookings in the next few months.”

The airport workers left in a rage

It is still unclear whether airport concessionaires will benefit from this legislation, according to UNITE HERE, the union for more than 45,000 workers in the airport, hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry and transportation industries in the United States. Canada.

More than 75% of union members in the hospitality industry lose their jobs this month.

A UNITE spokesman HERE said the latest stimulus bill was “too small, too late”, noting that support for airports includes $ 200 million in rent exemptions for airport concessionaires, which includes food businesses. and retail, but does not appear to include worker protections.

“We hope that these new conditions will ensure that these subcontractors use these funds as intended: to help workers,” the spokesman said in an email.

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