Senators Invite Airline CEOs to Testify at a Hearing on December 8

The chair of the US Senate Commerce Committee invited airline CEOs to testify at a hearing on December 8. The hearing will address staffing shortages despite airlines receiving billions of dollars in aid during the pandemic.

Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell who chairs the US Senate Commerce Committee invited airline CEOs from American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Spirit Airlines.

Reuters first reported the planned hearing earlier last month though it wasn’t clear then if the airline CEOs will be invited to testify.

Three Rounds of Bailouts

Since March 2020, Congress approved three separate taxpayer bailouts for a total of $54 billion. The aid was designed to cover the airlines’ payroll costs through September 30. However, the bailout came with  conditions. For instance, the bailout prevented airlines from cutting worker pay or to involuntarily layoff employees. Also, the airlines should limit executive compensation.

Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said that the US thanksgiving travel week wouldn’t be as successful without the payroll assistance program.

Nelson added that “We made sure aviation workers were in place to meet the return demand for air travel after access to vaccination”.

Airline CEOs Deal with Staffing Shortages

Unfortunately, airlines still have to deal with staffing shortages in recent months. During Halloween weekend, American Airlines canceled close to 2000 flights. It started with weather issues and then snowballed into staffing shortages.

To ensure that airlines have enough manpower during the holidays, airlines offered bonuses to boost staffing. American Airlines is offering $1,000 bonuses and higher pay to ensure enough workforce during the holidays. The same goes for Southwest Airlines, offering incentives to their workforce working during the holidays.

Consumer Protection

In July, Senator Cantwell asked airlines about workforce shortages, delays and cancelations that created “havoc” and frustrated consumers. According to the letter, airlines “poorly managed its marketing of flights and workforce as more people are traveling”. The letter added that “it failed to meet the intent of tax payer funding”.

This month, US senators reintroduced legislation that will expand consumer protection for air travelers. The legislation aims to ensure that “airlines provide passengers with fair compensation, refunds, and recourse in the event of airline-caused flight delays and cancellations”.