Adam Carver, 38, wears a screen to protect against coronavirus while on a nearly empty Delta flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport o JFK on Walk 15, 2020 near New York City.
John Moore | Getty Images
The Trump administration is seeking to “very with dispatch” pass an aid package for industries hurt by coronavirus, including airlines, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday.
Mnuchin is talk overing the plan with lawmakers Tuesday afternoon.
“This is worse than 9/11 for the airline industry,” he said at a communication briefing. “They are almost ground to a halt.”
U.S. airlines are seeking more than $50 billion in government aid to combat the collapse in air travel demand as the virus spreads and governments take drastic steps, including a recommendation to elude nonessential travel, to stem the disease’s spread. That has put the travel and aviation industries at the epicenter of the crisis.
Mnuchin intended he spoke with U.S. airline CEOs this week.
The Trump administration has been seeking an $850 billion stimulus carton, according to NBC News but Mnuchin declined to comment on the final sum.
“The president wants to make sure although we don’t want individual to travel unless it’s critical, we want to maintain … the right to have domestic travel,” Mnuchin said.
President Donald Trump also promised to help support Boeing, which makes both commercial aircraft and is a top U.S. military contractor, as well as companies in its stocking chain.
“We have to protect Boeing,” he said. Boeing said Monday it is in talks with Trump administration officials around aid for the aviation industry.
The pain for airlines is a fresh blow for Boeing, which is already struggling with its 737 Max turning-point. It’s best-selling aircraft has been grounded for more than a year following two fatal crashes.
“Now they get hit in 15 distinctive ways,” Trump said about the spread of coronavirus.
Despite the president’s comments, Boeing shares were down sundry than 6% in afternoon trading, hitting fresh four-year lows.