As Congress continues to debate the merits of a second stimulus package to help the economy, one expert says airlines will need that and a third bailout to survive the coronavirus pandemic.
“You’ll need two more big stimulus packages,” Dr. Larry J. Sabato said Monday.
After the initial CARES Act was passed in March and assuming the next package will come before year’s end as it has been in negotiations for months, Sabato said: “the (third overall stimulus package) would have to be in the first half of 2021.”
Sabato made his remarks during the inaugural ASTA Corporate Travel Conclave, a virtual event that kicked off Monday for the first of three days.
Sabato is the founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He is a New York Times best-selling author, Emmy award winner and is recognized as one of the nation’s most respected political analysts.
Asked how the travel industry will react to a presidency of Democrat Joseph Biden, the presumptive President-Elect pending litigation by current President Donald Trump after charges of voter fraud, Sabato said it all comes down to the economy.
“From what I have been told by public health officials, things are supposed to improve dramatically in mid-2021,” he said.
Sabato said every indication he has received points toward a Biden presidency.
“It’s going to end up with Biden at 306 (Electoral College) votes. Biden will be well over 5 million in the plurality of the vote,” Sabato said. “Everything Trump is saying is ridiculous. There is no widespread fraud. This was the most hawkish election. Just moving ballots from one table to another had a Republican observer and a Democratic observer. There’s no monkey business there, that’s how an election unfolds.”
The next wave of additional relief for the travel industry could come by the end of the year, but it remains to be seen if that will happen or not.
When talks stalled back in October, travel industry leaders expressed disappointment. As we inch closer to the end of what has been a hectic year, one can only hope help is on the way sooner than later.