A dozen aviation unions, including the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the Air Line Pilots Association, and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, recently called on Congress to extend payroll support for aviation workers as part of the next round of COVID-19 stimulus funding.
In a July 15 letter sent to Congressional leaders, the aviation unions urged Congress to extend the Payroll Support Program, part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that allocated $32 billion in payroll grants to commercial airlines and airline contractors for the continuation of employee wages, salaries, and benefits.
NATCA said the program had kept hundreds of thousands of airline workers employed and with benefits during the pandemic, which, in turn, helped the economy and kept the supply chain moving.
However, the program ends on Sept. 30, 2020. NATCA and other unions are calling on Congress to extend the PSP program until March 31, 2021, in order to prevent a wave of layoffs starting in October.
Air travel remains far below last year’s levels and demand will remain depressed into next year, said the unions, which represent the aviation workers that account for 5 percent of the nation’s GDP.
“Should October 1 arrive without extending the PSP, mass layoffs are inevitable. In fact, last week United Airlines announced that it could be forced to furlough half of its workforce—36,000 aviation professionals throughout the country—when the current program ends. In total, hundreds of thousands of workers will lose their jobs and health insurance—not only in aviation, but across our entire economy,” the letter said.
“Airline industry employment cannot simply be put back together overnight, and mass layoffs will do great damage to the sector and our economy, with potentially irrevocable consequences,” the groups said in their letter.
U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), John Katko (R-NY), Sharice Davids (D-KS), Karen Bass (D-CA), and Rodney Davis (R-IL) are leading the effort in Congress to include the PSP Program in the latest stimulus package.