Washington, DC – Leaders of the Air Line Pilots Association, Allied Pilots Association, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, Association of Professional Flight Attendants, Communications Workers of America, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, Transport Workers Union, and Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issue this joint statement applauding 223 bipartisan members of Congress for calling for an extension of the CARES Act Payroll Support Program (PSP) through March 31, 2021. The program, which allocated grants to commercial airlines and airline contractors for the exclusive purpose of keeping employees on payroll with wages and benefits, is set to expire September 30, 2020:
“We applaud Reps. Peter DeFazio, Brian Fitzpatrick, Rick Larsen, John Katko, Sharice Davids, Karen Bass, Rodney Davis, and 216 of their colleagues for recognizing the severity of the crisis we face and fighting for the health and welfare of America’s frontline aviation workforce.
“Airline industry employment, and the collective skill set and knowledge base held by aviation workers, cannot simply be put back together overnight. As airlines continue to struggle amid the COVID-19 crisis, and demand for air travel remains significantly below last year’s levels, an extension of the PSP jobs program is necessary to avoid massive layoffs in this industry. Without an extension of this program, tens of thousands of aviation workers could find themselves on the unemployment line this fall, causing potentially catastrophic consequences to this industry and our broader economy.
“By extending PSP grants, Congress has the power to ensure airline workers will continue to stay on payroll with benefits, prevent mass unemployment in October, and keep aviation workers ready to turn the industry around once this crisis is behind us.”
ALPA, APA, AFA-CWA, APFA, CWA, IAM, IBT, NATCA, NJASAP, PASS, SWAPA, TWU, and TTD collectively represent hundreds of thousands of aviation professionals, including aircraft cabin crews, ground crews, ticket and gate agents, aircraft cabin cleaners, pilots, and more.
Press contacts:
Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA): David Weaver, david.weaver@alpa.org
Allied Pilots Association (APA): Gregg Overman, goverman@alliedpilots.org
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA): Taylor Garland, tgarland@afacwa.org
Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA): Paul Hartshorn, phartshorn@apfa.org
Communications Workers of America (CWA): Amy Fetherolf, afetherolf@cwa-union.org
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM): James Carlson, jcarlson@iamaw.org
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT): Galen Munroe, Gmunroe@teamster.org
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA): Doug Church, dchurch@natcadc.org
NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP): Coley George, cgeorge@njasap.com
Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS): Elizabeth Doherty, edoherty@passnational.org
Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA): Chip Hancock, chancock@swapa.org
Transport Workers Union (TWU): Denise Romano, dromano@twu.org
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD): Jonna Huseman, jonnah@ttd.org