U.S. President Donald Trump late Tuesday again said that Congress should immediately release $25 billion in new federal aid for U.S. commercial airlines even as he canceled talks with Democrats over plans to spend at least $1.6 trillion in coronavirus funding.
Airline stock prices were down Tuesday after Trump tweeted he was abandoning stimulus negotiations until after the November U.S. election.
But the president later had a change of heart and urged Congress to "IMMEDIATELY Approve 25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll... I will sign it now!" Reuters quoted him saying in a tweet.
Trump said Congress could make use of reserve funds from earlier pandemic relief to help airlines, including a separate package for small businesses.
Big U.S. carriers were expected to be the main beneficiary of the proposed funding. Last Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on airline executives to defer retrenchments, informing them that payroll assistance for airline employees was forthcoming. A representative for Pelosi didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
United and American Airlines last week started terminating 32,000 employees but said they would reverse the layoffs if Congress agreed on a deal for new federal assistance that would help payroll costs.
In a statement, Airlines for America - a lobby group for U.S. carriers - said "time has already run out for U.S. airlines and many of our employees." It said more aid was needed, CNBC reported.
"Yet there's a glimmer of hope that our leaders in Washington will act and save these jobs before it's too late," the report said.
American Airlines' stock was down as much as 5%, United and Delta Air share fell 3.5% and Southwest shares fell 2.3%. The S&P 500 fell 1.4%.
An earlier $25 billion airline payroll aid package composed mostly of cash benefits expired Sept. 30.
Airlines for America said thousands of airline staff across the U.S. had already become unemployed - and more retrenchments are seen in the next few weeks, it said.
