Originally Posted by
opt0712
Seriously? Ok, how about: Hotels, Tourism, Small Businesses, Service Industry all add up to a larger chunk of the economy than aviation. Furthermore, many of those affected in those industries aren't making an average of 100k and up.
A lot of that is utterly dependent on airlines. The fed correctly assessed that if all of the big airlines go BK (with multiple liquidations) that would delay the broader recovery because it would take literally years to restore an airline infrastructure (using anything like normal business and safety protocols).
Low-end service industries can spool back up pretty quickly by comparison.
I actually feel a bit like we dodged a bullet. It wasn't really a near-thing with federal aid, but you could see catastrophe on the horizon. The current and previous administrations did the right thing, but there are people in DC who would have just let the airlines die if it were up to them.
I don't know how you felt last Apr but I could certainly see the abyss from where I stood, if not exactly teetering on the edge.