Trump Administration Readies Airline Bailout

[corbe]

Trump Administration Readies Airline Bailout

How much can a nation that is $23 trillion in debt and that was running a $1 trillion annual deficit before the current crisis do to bail out its entire economy?

by David Thornton

The four largest US airlines collectively earned a net profit of more than $10 billion in 2018. Three months into 2020 and mere weeks after the onset of America’s Coronavirus scare they are looking for a bailout.

Airlines have been forced to cancel thousands of planned flights both as part of containment measures and because few people want to be in close proximity to travelers from who-knows-where as they pass through airport terminals and airline cabins. Revenue forecasts have not been updated but they must be plummeting. Delta alone has announced plans to cut flights by 40 percent and park 300 airplanes.

But airlines have high fixed costs. Even when passengers are not buying tickets, the companies still must make lease payments on airplanes that are not generating revenue. Employees must still be paid unless the crisis extends long enough to justify furloughs. Even furloughs entail costs for retraining crews. For the moment, Delta and its pilot union have agreed to a plan to allow some pilots to voluntarily take time off with partial pay as a stopgap measure.

Even with cost-cutting, the airlines will be burning through their cash reserves at an alarming rate. Industry groups say that most of the world’s airlines will be bankrupt by May.

<..snip..>

https://theresurgent.com/2020/03/17/trump-administration-readies-airline-bailout/

[txradioguy]

Why?

[roamer_1]

BOHICA!

[txradioguy]

BOHICA!

@roamer_1 and people wonder why some of us stay skeptical of Trump's "conservative" bona fides.

[roamer_1]

@roamer_1 and people wonder why some of us stay skeptical of Trump's "conservative" bona fides.

@txradioguy , I am far beyond mere skepticism... And always have been... This just proves the point.

[txradioguy]

@txradioguy , I am far beyond mere skepticism... And always have been... This just proves the point.

@roamer_1 with the virus outbreak he doesn't even have to wait til the next term to shed any vestige of "Conservatism" he might have had.

[roamer_1]

@roamer_1 with the virus outbreak he doesn't even have to wait til the next term to shed any vestige of "Conservatism" he might have had.

@txradioguy
That's right. This bailout is gonna make Dubya look frugal.

[txradioguy]

@txradioguy
That's right. This bailout is gonna make Dubya look frugal.

Indeed.

[Absalom]

A reflection.
Our only bona fide conservative party was the Agrarian/Rural Democrats of the South, sadly fatally tarred and ultimately destroyed by slavery.
Post Civil War, the Republicans emerged, the creation of the merchant and later the industrial class;
politically ascendent till Hoover.
The GOP had nothing to do w/principled conservatism, being the party of centralized government,
aggressive trade protectionism and judicial activism; their legacy from 70+years of control of
the Presidency,, the Congress and Scotus appointments.
Their supporters were the commercial/industrial moneyed class who Adam Smith labeled the
'crony capitalist club.'
Trump is just another club member who will do anything/everything to retain his grip on power.
He is not nor has he ever been a principled conservative; not for a day!

[Idiot]

Gonna bail out oil field workers as well?

[txradioguy]

Gonna bail out oil field workers as well?

I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

[Drago]

Major US airlines bought back $45 billion of their stock over the last few years, and now want a $50 billion bailout? They probably should have saved that $$ for a rainy day.  Sell it back now to raise some money? Oops, not worth quite as much now!

[AL]

This is all out of control.  We're going to bankrupt America even further with industry bailouts over a flu thats no worse than any other flu?    The flu will spread, they always do.  The flu will eventually pass, they always do, and all the politicians want to do is throw money at it.  This whole thing is nothing but a setup for MSM to change this November's elections up and down the line.  Money passed out for good always ends up places it shouldn't.

[thackney]

This is all out of control.  We're going to bankrupt America even further with industry bailouts over a flu thats no worse than any other flu?    The flu will spread, they always do.  The flu will eventually pass, they always do, and all the politicians want to do is throw money at it.  This whole thing is nothing but a setup for MSM to change this November's elections up and down the line.  Money passed out for good always ends up places it shouldn't.

This virus is a hell of a lot worse than the flu.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy/italy-rushes-to-promote-new-doctors-to-relieve-coronavirus-crisis-idUSKBN214245

[IsailedawayfromFR]

This virus is a hell of a lot worse than the flu.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy/italy-rushes-to-promote-new-doctors-to-relieve-coronavirus-crisis-idUSKBN214245

Is it really?  Just because there are over-reactions does not mean it is more lethal.

Investigating the impact of influenza on excess mortality in all ages in Italy during recent seasons (2013/14–2016/17 seasons)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971219303285

[cato potatoe]

Major US airlines bought back $45 billion of their stock over the last few years, and now want a $50 billion bailout? They probably should have saved that $$ for a rainy day.  Sell it back now to raise some money? Oops, not worth quite as much now!

They knew the government would bail them out if the industry faced an existential crisis.  This will happen again, and soon.

[thackney]

Is it really?  Just because there are over-reactions does not mean it is more lethal.

Investigating the impact of influenza on excess mortality in all ages in Italy during recent seasons (2013/14–2016/17 seasons)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971219303285

The world wide mortality is (while early in the detection and analysis) looks to be ~50 times greater than the flu, currently total mortality ~4%.  In the US, we are running 10 times greater  (~1.5%) but are very early in the beginning of the infections.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu

Italy's Mortality rate is ~8.3% for COVID-19.  The link you shared for their very bad flu time shows ~1.3%.  Worse, it is still rising in Italy and they have already exceeded their capacity in ventilators.  It is likely going to be killing some in Italy who are not even infected due to the impact on their ability to care for people and overwhelming their capacity.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

This isn't the flu.