2 House chairs seek probe into airlines' use of federal aid
Two key lawmakers want the government to investigate whether airlines used federal pandemic-relief money to encourage employees to quit
Two leading House Democrats want a federal investigation into whether airlines used any of the $54 billion they received in pandemic relief to encourage employees to quit.
The lawmakers on Friday asked the Treasury Department’s inspector general to examine whether money that was intended to keep airline workers on the payroll instead went to buyouts or early-retirement offers.
After air travel plunged in early 2020, airlines offered incentives that encouraged tens of thousands of workers to quit or take long-term leaves of absence. The airlines were caught understaffed when travel bounced back strongly this spring and summer, contributing to higher than normal levels of canceled and delayed flights.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, and Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., chairman of a special panel on the government’s response to the pandemic, requested an investigation.
