have suffered mass cancellations and delays due at least in part to staffing shortages. Restrictions imposed by Congress forbid use of payroll funds for such things as stock buy-backs.Īs airline travel has rebounded in recent months, however, some carriers such as American Airlines Group Inc. While carriers imposed a variety of furlough and early retirement programs to cut costs, federal funds kept tens of thousands of workers employed. The Payroll Support Program was widely praised by airlines and their unions. carriers, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Īs the pandemic caused a dramatic drop in airline traffic - passenger levels fell by more than 95% by April 2020 - Congress included carriers in aid packages that provided about $50 billion to help cover payrolls to limit job losses and also created loan packages for the industry. “They care just that it’s delayed.”Īirlines for America, which represents large U.S.

“As you know, travelers don’t care why their flight is delayed,” DeFazio and Graves said in the letter, which was seen by Bloomberg News. While acknowledging the challenges carriers have faced as a result of the pandemic, DeFazio and Graves said they expected airlines to “take whatever measures are available” to address staffing issues. The inquiry comes on the heels of a similar effort by the Senate Commerce Committee, which tentatively asked chief executives of the seven largest airlines to attend a Dec. The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon, and the committee’s top Republican, Sam Graves of Missouri, in a letter dated Wednesday asked the industry trade group Airlines for America whether carriers had enough staffing to handle this season’s holiday traffic.

airlines to explain the series of flight disruptions earlier this year that occurred in spite of the government’s $50 billion in aid to limit industry layoffs during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Bloomberg) - Two leading House lawmakers are calling on U.S.

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