Delta, American, United in White House talks to receive government support

[dalton99a]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-airlines-domestic/delta-american-united-in-white-house-talks-to-receive-government-support-idUSKBN2102NH

Delta, American, United in White House talks to receive government support
David Shepardson, Tracy Rucinski

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), American Air Lines (AAL.O) and United Airlines (UAL.O), the three largest U.S. airlines, are in talks with the U.S. government about potential assistance amid a dramatic drop-off in air travel demand due to the coronavirus outbreak, the carriers said on Friday.

Airlines are reeling from a plunge in bookings and traffic, as the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic prompts travel restrictions and event cancellations around the world.

United CEO Oscar Munoz has spent the last two days in Washington, D.C., meeting with senior officials in the Trump administration and senior members of the U.S. House and Senate in both parties, while President Scott Kirby has been in close touch with bank executives to assess the deepening impact of this crisis on the broader economy, the two told employees in a memo on Thursday.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian also told employees on Friday that it was pursuing government aid.

“We are in discussions with the White House and Congress regarding the support they can provide to help us through this period,” Bastian said in a memo released by the airline, adding he was forgoing his salary this year. “The speed of the demand fall-off is unlike anything we’ve seen.”

American Airlines is also in discussions, a spokeswoman said.

[stillcool]

1. makes me feel all warm and fuzzy...

[customerserviceguy]

2. Will they agree

to stop torturing their passengers in exchange for a bailout?

It seems to me that cutting back on the seat cramming might be something Democratic members of Congress could use as leverage for providing big bucks for nothing.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Just like with the farmers.

He does some colossally stupid thing that fucks an entire industry, which then needs government money to survive.

[exboyfil]

4. Equity positions only

They already got their money through the tax breaks.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/american-airlines-group-reports-first-quarter-2018-profit-1022394303
Returned $498 million to shareholders, including the repurchase of 8.4 million shares and dividend payments of $48 million. Announced a new $2.0 billion share repurchase authorization2 to be completed by December 31, 2020


https://hub.united.com/united-airlines--new-3-billion-2567373612.html
United Airlines Announces New $3 Billion Share Repurchase Program
December 07, 2017
CHICAGO, Dec. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines announced today that the Board of Directors of its parent company, United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL), authorized a new $3 billion share repurchase program. This amount represents approximately 17 percent of the company's market capitalization based on the closing stock price on Dec. 6, 2017.


https://www.marketwatch.com/story/delta-sees-opportunistic-time-to-speed-up-13-billion-in-stock-repurchases-2019-03-05
Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL, +13.77% surged 2.2% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the air carrier said is taking out a $1 billion short-term loan to accelerate "opportunistic" stock repurchases in the current quarter. Delta affirmed its plan to return $2.5 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends in 2019, with $1.3 billion in repurchases in the current quarter.