- The coronavirus stimulus package offers up to $29 billion in payroll grants to airlines, helping them continue to pay workers through September, despite demand for air travel slowing to a crawl across the world. Another $3 billion is available to airline contractors
- The grants are separate from another $29 billion in loans available to airlines.
- The application for the grants was published Monday night, and is remarkably simple and straightforward.
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The US Treasury Department has posted the guidelines and application for airlines seeking payroll grants as part of the federal coronavirus bailout - and it's easier than you might expect.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or "CARES" Act - offered $58 billion in aid to airlines, split into two parts. Up to $29 billion in loans for air carriers is available, and an additional $29 billion in payroll grants.
Those grants are intended to help workers at struggling airlines, distributed by the federal government to the the carriers, and disbursed to employees using regular payroll systems.
Airline contractors have access to $3 billion in payroll grants.
Both the loans and the grants require that the companies accepting them not reduce their workforces until after September 30, 2020 - in effect, the mandate prohibits involuntary job cuts.
While the application for the loans is not available yet - the Treasury has published guidelines on eligibility and the application process, and suggested that applicants begin compiling the required documentation - the full application for payroll grants is available on the Treasury's website, dated March 30.
The document is 10 pages long: five pages outlining the requirements and guidelines set by the CARES Act, and five pages of surprisingly simple forms. You can see the entire document embedded below, or live on the Treasury website.
The application has fields for basic applicant information, including company name and contact details, the type of airline or company, and the names of any parent or affiliate companies. It asks for past employment levels, salary amounts paid, and information for the bank account where they'd like the aid to be sent.
It also appears to require collateral from the airlines - such as warrants, options, preferred stock, or debt securities. The applicant can choose which instrument to offer. As part of the aid package signed into law last week, the Treasury Secretary is authorized to take equity in airlines receiving aid.
And that's it. The completed form can be emailed directly to the Treasury department.
In some ways, the simplicity of the form is remarkable and admirable.
While airlines are the ones that apply for the grants, the aid is meant for their workers, as a form of income and job protection as the COVID-19 pandemic brings the airline industry to a virtual standstill. Airline worker unions argued that the most effective way to provide aid to workers - who otherwise were at risk of layoffs beginning this week - was for the government to give it to the airlines, which could then distribute it via normal payroll channels.
The simplicity of the form, and the speed with which it was published after the stimulus went into effect contrasts with the arduous processes and bureaucracy that individuals face when applying for aid like state unemployment or food-stamp benefits.
Such applications often require pages of paperwork and scans of documents such as pay stubs, tax returns, and bank statements. Despite the grants to airlines, the companies have warned employees that there will be less work to go around in the coming months, and therefore fewer hours and less pay.
The Treasury Department has urged airlines and contractors seeking payroll assistance to apply by the end of this week or risk processing delays.
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Guidelines and Procedures for Payroll Support to Air Carriers and Contractors (PDF)Guidelines and Procedures for Payroll Support to Air Carriers and Contractors (Text)