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What it means when airlines get special aid

Oct 7, 2020
On-again, off-again stimulus talks are impacting the entire economy, but airlines are usually a special case. Here's why.
Airline industry workers call for more federal aid in Federal Plaza in Chicago on Sept. 9.
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images

Amtrak needs another bailout to stay afloat

Sep 29, 2020
Amtrak is planning to scale back many of its long-distance routes.
A passenger walks next to a departing Amtrak train at Union Station in Washington, D.C.
Rob Carr/Getty Images

Airlines ask for bailout extension

Sep 23, 2020
The industry is warning of a massive wave of layoffs if lawmakers don’t extend funding before Oct. 1.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby joins fellow airline executives, union heads and politicians at a news conference calling for additional financial support to avoid layoffs on Sept. 22 outside the U.S. Capitol.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Airlines, Treasury Department strike deal for $25 billion bailout

Apr 15, 2020
The deal comes with strings attached: For one thing, 30% of the money is going to have to be paid back.
Ten major airlines have signed onto the deal.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

COVID-19 stimulus proposals revive stock buyback debate

Mar 20, 2020
The big U.S. airlines spent almost all of their free cash flow buying back their own shares in the last decade. Now they want government aid.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said U.S. airlines are short on cash because "they spent billions on stock buybacks."
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Is it time yet for the government to bail out some large companies hurt by COVID-19?

Mar 20, 2020
If the government does bail out airlines and other industries, what might be required of those companies?
President Trump said Thursday he supports the U.S. taking equity stakes in companies that receive assistance.
Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images

The Trump administration considers ways to help the travel industry

Mar 11, 2020
Whatever you do, don't call it a "bailout."
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, center, emphasized that the Trump administration's economic response to COVID-19 should not be considered a bailout.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

What did America buy with the auto bailout, and was it worth it?

Nov 13, 2018
About $80 billion helped save GM and Chrysler, but autoworkers and auto-dependent communities haven't fully recovered.
From left, G. Richard Wagoner Jr., CEO of General Motors; Robert Nardelli, CEO of Chrysler; and Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, testify at a hearing on the U.S. auto industry on Capitol Hill on Dec. 5, 2008. GM and Chrysler were bailed out with TARP funds; Ford  received other federal assistance.
Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images