Let’s Make This the Last Airline Bailout

Right now, right up front, let’s give all the caveats.

It’s a pandemic.

It’s a pandemic.

And it’s a pandemic.

We get it. Everybody gets it. It’s not a stretch to say it’s been the worst year of our lives for many of us, particularly financially.

So when it comes to the three federal relief aid packages that have been distributed in the last year, I’m all for it.

To an extent.

As far as the airlines go, enough is enough. When the industry receives its monies from the latest stimulus, it will be well over $50 billion since the original CARES Act was passed in late March of 2020.

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Let’s make this the last airline bailout.

Now, to be clear, I am all for the success of the airlines. All airlines. And you should be invested in its strength as well, given that the travel industry in its entirety accounts for one of every 10 jobs worldwide.

But now is the time for the airlines to fly on their own. Demand for travel is still low – about half as many people flying on an airline as there were in 2019 – and with no indication that the demand will return in full by the end of this year, it could be time for airlines to restructure for the future.

That might mean a reduction in staff.

That might even mean a merger with another airline.

The latest coronavirus relief package was $1.9 trillion and is expected to be approved again by the House of Representatives as soon as Tuesday, March 9. The airlines get $14 billion from this one, ostensibly for the payroll protection program in order to keep paying employees. But does it make any sense to keep doing that to, in effect, pay for an overstaffed workforce?

Nobody wants to be terminated, laid off or furloughed. I sure don’t. But the airlines can, and will, operate with fewer people. They’ve already proven it. When American and United, for instance, hired back employees last fall that both had previously furloughed, they quickly found they had more workers than they had work.

There’s no reason to pay a position just because you think a salary slot is there to be filled.

Moreover, another bailout basically lets CEOs off the hook for a decade of financial mistakes, including stock buybacks and inflate compensation and bonuses.

And while, yes, you can say the airlines are struggling, U.S. carriers are nonetheless still flush with cash.

That could mean mergers, which is something some airlines should explore. Not mergers in the sense of the acquisitions we went through with Delta-Northwest, United-Continental and American-USAir.

But, perhaps, more partnerships like the recent American-JetBlue alliance to serve more customers on the east coast.

There are lots of things U.S. airlines can do to mitigate the financial woes. But the one thing we can’t do as taxpayers is cough up more money for a fourth – or fifth, or sixth – financial aid package.