Senate coronavirus aid proposal calls for $17 billion for airlines

The Senate has set aside $17 billion for airlines in a more than $900 billion bipartisan proposal providing additional coronavirus aid that was released Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.

Airlines received $25 billion under the CARES Act in March to keep paying their workers and forgo job cuts until Oct. 1.

American and United began furloughing more than 30,000 workers in October after Congress and the White House were unable to reach an agreement on another round of coronavirus aid that could have included more support for airlines. Tens of thousands of other workers have accepted buyout and early retirement packages.

The roughly $908 billion Senate coronavirus aid package would set aside $45 billion for the struggling transportation sector, according to a breakdown of the proposal.

U.S. airline shares were trading higher after the news of the potential for additional industry aid, which was reported earlier by Reuters. But the rally was more muted compared with other attempts, which later failed, to give more federal aid to the sector.