Lawmakers Want to Review Airlines’ Use Of Pandemic Relief Funds
Lawmakers are asking for a federal investigation on whether airlines used any of the $54 billion they received in government pandemic relief to pay employees to quit.
Two House representatives sent a letter to Mr. Richard K. Delmar, Deputy Inspector General of the Department of the Treasury, requesting a thorough review of the federal funding Treasury disbursed to airlines to sustain their operations during the coronavirus pandemic.
The lawmakers said that buyouts to employees made a pilot shortage worse and contributed to widespread flight delays and cancellations that have heavily affected air travel especially early this summer. They asked the Treasury Department’s inspector general to investigate and report back by Sept. 22 how airlines used the taxpayer money.
In March 2021, an audit conducted by Treasury’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that multiple airlines had “pervasive issues” with payroll calculations submitted to Treasury, which “impacted the accuracy of recipient award amounts” they received under the CARES Act.
Early in the pandemic, airlines offered incentives that encouraged thousands of workers to quit or take long-term leaves of absence. Then, those same airlines were caught understaffed when travel bounced back as restrictions were dropped.
“American taxpayers supported the airline industry during its darkest days at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when nearly 75% of commercial flights were grounded,” the lawmakers wrote. “Americans deserve transparency into how airlines have used the federal funds they have received.”
The pilot shortage has been a major contributing factor in widespread flight delays and cancellations, which has impacted millions of travelers. According to FlightAware, on September 5, 2022, there were 4,075 delays and 108 cancellations of flights within, into, or out of the United States.
While travelers are suffering the consequences of the pilot shortage, airline stocks rose to nearly 200% above pandemic levels this spring and have continued to rise. In 2021, airline companies enjoyed revenue growth of 8% to 12%, while passengers paid record-high prices for flights. The latter has partly been affected by much higher fuel prices.
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Following. I hope Uncle Sam really sticks it to the airlines.
Now that the money is gone, Congress decides to ask how it was spent. Then what? a strongly worded letter? A Congressional hearing? $54 billion of taxpayer dollars flushed down the toilet.
Congress is broken, they don’t care about you or your tax dollars.