I’m not so sure I believe that AA is thinking about chapter 11 right now with liquidity at 15 billion. Planning for the future is believable.
Most importantly, this bailout doesn’t help the airlines in any way as far as I’m aware..... the cash is only used to refund the cost of payroll. In other words, I believe the airline would save just as much money by just leaving everyone on the streets so the bailout wouldn’t effect bankruptcy in the slightest. Am I wrong?
Also to be fair, this is an economic downturn unlike anything this industry has seen. If the virus were to disappear tomorrow, things would get rolling pretty much instantaneously. That can’t be said of past downturns, where airlines business models were fundamentally flawed. I’m not calling for optimism as much as I’m playing devils advocate