The US Department of the Treasury has entered into an agreement with air transport companies that will obtain these financial assistance from government companies to avoid bankruptcy or layoffs due to the Corona epidemic.
According to ArabiaNet, the ministry said in a statement that the agreement was signed by 10 airlines, including the four largest companies, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and South West, which were reluctant to accept government assistance for fear of nationalization.
The statement quoted Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin as saying, "We look forward to working with airlines to finalize the necessary agreements and disburse the funds as quickly as possible," AFP quoted him as saying.
In March, the US Congress approved a massive $ 2.2 trillion financial plan to save the world's largest economy. The plan includes $ 25 billion to help airline companies continue to pay the salaries of their employees until September 30.
While the details of the agreement between the ministry and the air transport sector were not immediately disclosed, a source familiar with the negotiations that took place between the two parties said that the US government will own a minority of shares in these airlines.
Mnuchin said in the statement, that the agreement will support American workers and help to preserve the strategic importance of the aviation industry, while providing adequate compensation to taxpayers.
According to the source, the ministry informed the airlines during negotiations last Friday that it would have to return to the government 30% of the money it would receive from them.
He added that the federal government also wanted to obtain from companies in exchange for assistance in storage bonds, which are financial instruments that can be converted into shares and the price of which is usually determined in advance.
The source indicated that the government asked each company receiving assistance to issue storage bonds with a value of 10% of this assistance.
Airlines are also entitled to apply for another $ 25 billion in loans to help them resume operations after the epidemic caused air traffic to drop, forcing airlines to suspend many airlines and cancel hundreds of flights.
