[Senate Hearing 117-724]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        S. Hrg. 117-724

                 OVERSIGHT OF THE U.S. AIRLINE INDUSTRY

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                         COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
                      SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                           DECEMBER 15, 2021

                               __________

    Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation
                             
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                Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
                
                               __________

                                
                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
53-137 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2023                    
          
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       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                   MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Chair
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota             ROGER WICKER, Mississippi, Ranking
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii                 ROY BLUNT, Missouri
EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts         TED CRUZ, Texas
GARY PETERS, Michigan                DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             JERRY MORAN, Kansas
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois            DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
JON TESTER, Montana                  MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              TODD YOUNG, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MIKE LEE, Utah
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico            RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado          SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West 
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia                 Virginia
                                     RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
                 Melissa Porter, Deputy Staff Director
       George Greenwell, Policy Coordinator and Security Manager
                 John Keast, Republican Staff Director
            Crystal Tully, Republican Deputy Staff Director
                      Steven Wall, General Counsel
                            
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
Hearing held on December 15, 2021................................     1
Statement of Senator Cantwell....................................     1
Statement of Senator Wicker......................................     4
Statement of Senator Schatz......................................    50
Statement of Senator Blunt.......................................    52
Statement of Senator Klobuchar...................................    54
Statement of Senator Fischer.....................................    56
Statement of Senator Hickenlooper................................    58
Statement of Senator Thune.......................................    59
Statement of Senator Baldwin.....................................    61
Statement of Senator Moran.......................................    64
Statement of Senator Markey......................................    66
Statement of Senator Blackburn...................................    69
Statement of Senator Blumenthal..................................    70
Statement of Senator Cruz........................................    73
Statement of Senator Peters......................................    75
Statement of Senator Young.......................................    77
Statement of Senator Scott.......................................    79
Statement of Senator Rosen.......................................    81
Statement of Senator Sinema......................................    83
Statement of Senator Lujan.......................................    85

                               Witnesses

Dr. Mike Tretheway, Chief Economist and Executive Vice President, 
  InterVISTAS Consulting Inc.....................................     5
    Prepared statement...........................................     7
Doug Parker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, American 
  Airlines Group, Inc............................................    15
    Prepared statement...........................................    16
Gary C. Kelly, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, 
  Southwest Airlines Co..........................................    25
    Prepared statement...........................................    27
Scott Kirby, Chief Executive Officer, United Airlines Holdings, 
  Inc............................................................    28
    Prepared statement...........................................    30
John Laughter, Executive Vice President and Chief of Operations, 
  Delta Air Lines................................................    33
    Prepared statement...........................................    35
Sara Nelson, International President, Association of Flight 
  Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO........................................    39
    Prepared statement...........................................    41

                                Appendix

Letter dated December 10, 2021 to Senator Maria Cantwell and 
  Senator Roger Wicker from Captain Todd Insler, Chairman, United 
  Airlines Master Executive Council, Air Lines Pilots 
  Association, International.....................................    93
Ted Christie, President and CEO, Spirit Airlines, prepared 
  statement......................................................    96
Robin Hayes, CEO, JetBlue, prepared statement....................    99
Ben Minicucci, CEO, Alaska Air Group, prepared statement.........   104
Response to written questions submitted to Dr. Mike Tretheway by:
    Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................   139
Response to written questions submitted to Doug Parker by:
    Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................   141
    Hon. Richard Blumenthal......................................   149
    Hon. Brian Schatz............................................   151
    Hon. Jacky Rosen.............................................   152
    Hon. Raphael Warnock.........................................   153
Response to written questions submitted to Gary C. Kelly by:
    Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................   154
    Hon. Richard Blumenthal......................................   161
    Hon. Brian Schatz............................................   163
    Hon. Raphael Warnock.........................................   164
    Hon. Roger Wicker............................................   166
    Hon. Shelley Moore Capito....................................   166
    Hon. Jerry Moran.............................................   167
    Hon. Rick Scott..............................................   168
    Hon. Ron Johnson.............................................   168
    Hon. Roy Blunt...............................................   169
Response to written questions submitted to Scott Kirby by:
    Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................   170
    Hon. Richard Blumenthal......................................   174
    Hon. Brian Schatz............................................   176
    Hon. Jacky Rosen.............................................   177
    Hon. Raphael Warnock.........................................   178
    Hon. Roger Wicker............................................   180
    Hon. Shelley Moore Capito....................................   180
    Hon. Rick Scott..............................................   182
    Hon. Ron Johnson.............................................   183
    Hon. Roy Blunt...............................................   184
    Hon. Mike Lee................................................   186
    Hon. Marsha Blackburn........................................   188
    Hon. Ted Cruz................................................   189
Response to written questions submitted to John Laughter by:
    Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................   198
    Hon. Richard Blumenthal......................................   205
    Hon. Brian Schatz............................................   207
    Hon. Jacky Rosen.............................................   207
    Hon. Raphael Warnock.........................................   208
    Hon. Roger Wicker............................................   210
    Hon. Shelley Moore Capito....................................   210
    Hon. Jerry Moran.............................................   212
    Hon. Rick Scott..............................................   212
    Hon. Ron Johnson.............................................   212
    Hon. Roy Blunt...............................................   213
    Hon. Deb Fischer.............................................   214
Response to written question submitted to Sara Nelson by:
    Hon. Richard Blumenthal......................................   214
    Hon. Kyrsten Sinema..........................................   215
    Hon. Raphael Warnock.........................................   217
Response to written questions submitted to Ted Christie by:......
    Hon. Richard Blumenthal......................................   218
Response to written questions submitted to Robin Hayes by:
    Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................   219
    Hon. Richard Blumenthal......................................   223
Response to written questions submitted to Ben Minicucci by:
    Hon. Richard Blumenthal......................................   225

 
                 OVERSIGHT OF THE U.S. AIRLINE INDUSTRY

                              ----------                              


                      WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021

                                       U.S. Senate,
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:35 p.m., in 
room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Maria 
Cantwell, Chairwoman of the Committee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Cantwell [presiding], Klobuchar, 
Blumenthal, Schatz, Markey, Peters, Baldwin, Sinema, Rosen, 
Lujan, Hickenlooper, Wicker, Thune, Blunt, Cruz, Fischer, 
Moran, Blackburn, Young, and Scott.

           OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL, 
                  U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON

    The Chairwoman. The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation will come to order. Today we are 
having an oversight hearing on the U.S. airline industry and 
the PSP program. We have a distinguished panel of witnesses. 
Oh, I think some are joining us remotely.
    So thank you all very much for being here today. I know 
that some of our colleagues, we just had a vote called and are 
running to do that and we will be back. But again, I want to 
thank American Airlines CEO, Mr. Parker, for being here; 
Southwest Airlines, Mr. Kelly, for being here; Scott Kirby, the 
CEO of United Airlines, Mr. Laughter--is that how you pronounce 
it right? Laughter----
    Mr. Laughter. Laughter.
    The Chairwoman. Mr. Laughter, thank you--representing Delta 
Airlines, and Ms. Nelson, representing the flight attendants, 
and I believe remotely, we have someone from my part of the 
world anyway, British Columbia, the Pacific Northwest, Mister--
sorry, sir. Mr. Trethe? Let's see----
    Mr. Tretheway. Tretheway.
    The Chairwoman. Tretheway. Mr. Tretheway, thank you so 
much. You are going to be leading us off after I make a few 
comments and Senator Wicker gives his statement, but certainly 
appreciate you and your company in analyzing transportation. 
The immediate question before the Committee today is whether 
the Payroll Support Program for the airlines worked.
    As we will hear from our panelists today, economists, union 
presidents, and airline executives, the answer to that question 
is yes. The Payroll Support Program was a historic investment 
to sustain a critical sector of the U.S. economy. Aviation 
amounts to more than 5 percent of U.S. GDP and contributes $1.8 
trillion in total economic activity. By ensuring airlines had 
funding to continue to pay their employees' wages and salaries 
and benefits, the Payroll Support Program saved the jobs and 
livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of workers.
    And I am sure that that is the story we are going to hear. 
Specifically, though, the relief saved 386,200 direct full-time 
U.S. passenger airline jobs, approximately 85 percent of the 
pre-pandemic workforce, according to data reported by the major 
airlines. In addition, the workforce aid indirectly supported 
over 340,000 jobs, including over 74,000 jobs in the supply 
chain. This is one of the great things about this program is 
that it helped the entire ecosystem of aviation.
    Today, the U.S. domestic capacity is 87 percent of the pre-
pandemic levels, which is above our peer markets in Europe and 
Asia. I think these two charts probably show it best and the 
gap, the United States being the blue line and in this case, 
Europe, being in the red. The fact that the United States acted 
quickly and continually built on that showed the difference in 
what we were able to restore for aviation travel.
    To look specifically over that same time period, in the 
various months, again, where we are today, you can see more 
people have started to catch up where the United States is. But 
during this time period, the United States was able to move 
faster. That meant a lot to our economy. It meant a lot to 
those families and to the workers, and the fact that as of 
September 2021, the airline industry was operating with only 
about 5 percent fewer employees than under pre-pandemic levels 
in early 2020. So we know that this means good news for the 
future.
    We will hear testimony, as I said from an economist who is 
going to tell us why the United States proposal and program 
worked so well and how it helped us retain experienced and 
trained workforce individuals, and why that is so important as 
we move forward. In Mr. Tretheway's words, correctly focusing 
on the key objectives of retaining airline industry workforce 
and ensuring continuity of economic and social connectivity was 
an important goal.
    Indeed, the Payroll Support Program provided relief to 
other parts of the aviation system, including contractors, 
repair stations, service providers, and I want to thank my 
colleagues, specifically Senator Duckworth and Senator Peters, 
who focused on that. Airlines were also required to service 662 
U.S. destinations, including some small communities that might 
otherwise have lost service in the pandemic, and as a result, 
U.S. airlines continue to operate 5,936 weekly frequencies to 
these destinations, amounting to over 300,000 frequencies per 
year.
    This service guarantee ensured that the nation's air 
transportation network remained open for business. It was 
critical for supplies, including vaccines and the health care 
system that everyone was counting on. But let's be clear, this 
success was not a foregone conclusion. This required Congress 
to act immediately. And I want to thank my colleague, Senator 
Wicker and the team of people on this committee on both sides 
of the aisle who worked day and night for weeks and worked with 
the various counterparts in the House and in the private sector 
and the White House to try to come up with this proposal.
    With the market demand collapsing at record speed bottoming 
out at nearly 5 percent of pre-pandemic levels within weeks, 
the Payroll Support Program provided a degree of confidence and 
certainty in the marketplace. We know the PSP program worked 
because U.S. airlines kept frontline workers employed and were 
able to capture the air travel rebound that I just showed in 
those charts. In January 2021, the U.S. domestic passenger 
volumes were at 42 percent of pre-pandemic levels, and by last 
week they were at 87 percent.
    This is a 107 percent increase in domestic airline capacity 
in 2021 and indicates domestic travel could be fully back by 
2022. In contrast, as the chart showed, other nations weren't 
at that same capacity. In fact, I think the Asian Pacific 
region is lingering around 53 percent airline capacity in 
comparison to 2019 levels. Again, we have a different market, 
different complexities. So as designed, the PSP helped us 
preserve skills and high paying jobs critical to our economy, 
and I can't wait to hear from the witnesses in more detail.
    According to the Treasury Department, out of the $54 
billion in PSP funds, the airlines must repay $14 billion, 
which is 26 percent of PSP funds. The Treasury holds warrants 
that are currently worth over $200 million, and the Committee 
is asking for an assessment of what we would have spent if the 
U.S. Government would have taken care of that same population 
on unemployment benefits.
    So we know that in the end, it would have been still a lot 
of cost to the Federal Government. The Committee will be 
working on a full report in the New Year about this program, 
and today's hearing informs us about some of those details the 
Committee would like to know. Obviously, during this time 
period, there were challenges, outages, weather events, 
workforce challenges. I am sure that we will hear from our 
witnesses about those and questions from my colleagues on those 
disruptions and what we should do.
    I am sure we will hear about consumer delays and 
cancellations of flights and refunds; consumer refunds and 
complaints against U.S. airlines did skyrocket in 2020. The 
Department of Transportation reports a 4,634 percent increase 
in filed complaints over 2019 levels. While 2021 is better, 
there are still more than 5,500 refund complaints so far, and 
we here know that the law requires airlines to provide refunds 
to consumers for airline driven cancellations, and we expect 
airlines to comply with that law.
    Tomorrow, we will hear from the general counsel nominee for 
DOT who will be in charge of this issue, and we look forward to 
hearing their comments. So again, I want to note that while we 
have witnesses here before us today, just in the interest of 
time and committee participation and dialog, we have asked 
other airlines, including Alaska, JetBlue, and Spirit, to 
provide written testimony that will be part of the record.
    My colleagues should feel free to ask questions for the 
record of those airlines as well. I know that we are in a 
better place than where we would have been if we hadn't done 
the PSP program.
    I hope that we can also share the thanks to Gerry Petrella 
in Senator Schumer's office and Scott Raab in Senator 
McConnell's office for their hard work on this program as well 
and would like to now turn it over to my colleague, Senator 
Wicker, for his comments.

                STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER WICKER, 
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSISSIPPI

    Senator Wicker. Madam Chair, I am sitting here wondering if 
I should simply yield back my time and say that I subscribe 
wholly to everything you said in your statement. But I think I 
will go ahead. She had hope for a moment. Beginning in March of 
last year, COVID-19 began to devastate air travel.
    In the ensuing weeks, passenger air traffic was reduced to 
a trickle and the commercial aviation sector faced the 
possibility of bankruptcies and layoffs for hundreds of 
thousands of workers. The National Air Transportation Network, 
which Americans rely upon, was at risk of collapsing.
    By establishing the Payroll Support Program, PSP, as part 
of the CARES Act, Congress acted boldly to help the industry 
weather the storm and to preserve National Air Service for big 
cities and small towns alike. I am proud to have been part of 
the bipartisan effort to create PSP.
    A spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association Union was 
exactly right when he said recently that, ``PSP was an over-
the-top success. Without it, the airline industry would have 
collapsed.'' It is worth noting two important aspects of PSP. 
First, it required airlines to continue serving all the markets 
they served before the pandemic, even as demand vanished.
    Second, the assistance provided covered pay and benefits 
for frontline workers, pilots, flight attendants, gate agents, 
and service contractors, but not senior management. 
Furthermore, the passenger airline PSP, covered only 77 percent 
of the total payroll cost for the largest 11 airlines. In other 
words, PSP was a necessary lifeline, not a windfall. And that 
lifeline worked.
    In fact, one recent analysis found that nearly 400,000 
direct passenger airline jobs were saved. This figure does not 
include the jobs saved by PSP funds that were directed to cargo 
airlines and aviation service contractors. Unfortunately, the 
pandemic and its catastrophic impact on passenger demand lasted 
far longer than any of us had hoped or anticipated.
    In the fall of 2020, Senator Collins and I introduced 
legislation to extend PSP past its original expiration date of 
September 30, 2020. Even though the bill had 24 bipartisan co-
sponsors, I regret that somehow Congress was unable to act in 
time to prevent a lapse of the PSP program.
    In December of last year, Congress extended PSP in the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, but the nearly three-
month lapse in the program, along with lower demand, created a 
period of uncertainty, forcing the aviation industry to adjust 
staffing levels through voluntary furloughs and buyouts. 
Fortunately, the second round of PSP paved the way for airlines 
to rehire employees who had left voluntarily. If that gap in 
PSP and the uncertainty it caused could have been avoided, the 
airlines would have been better positioned to handle the 
resurgence in air travel demand and operational challenges.
    As a COVID-19 vaccine rollout began, the demand for 
passenger air travel returned faster than anticipated. Over the 
summer of 2021, we saw many instances in which some airlines 
were overly ambitious, and passengers paid the price. No one 
likes flight delays or cancellations. Having thousands of 
customers stranded and unable to get to their destinations is 
frustrating and unacceptable, but those disruptions should not 
lead us to question whether PSP was the right decision.
    PSP kept the airlines from collapsing entirely. PSP is the 
reason flight cancellations were limited to mere days and not 
months and years, and PSP is the reason ticket prices did not 
skyrocket. I call that a success, and I join the Chair of this 
committee in saying that boldly. Now, there have been delays 
and cancellations. It appears that airlines have heard the 
traveling public's frustration with that, but this 
Thanksgiving's travel weekend went off with minimal disruption.
    More than 20 million passengers flew safely and got to 
their destinations. PSP was meant to save the air 
transportation system, not to be a guarantee of smooth flying 
for everyone everywhere. I look forward to hearing from our 
witnesses about how they are taking steps to prevent any 
further mass delays and cancellations while maintaining 
flexibility during the ongoing pandemic.
    And once again, I join the Chair of this committee in 
saying that PSP was a resounding bipartisan success, and I am 
glad to have been a part of it. I yield back to you, Senator 
Cantwell.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you, Senator Wicker. And again, thank 
you for your leadership on the issue. And again, I don't think 
anybody really has a concept of how fast the United States 
worked to make this happen, but it was very fast and really 
almost a two and a half weeks sprint of just working every day 
till we figured this out. So, we will now turn to our 
witnesses. We are going to start with you, Mr. Tretheway, for a 
more global view, so it is very appropriate that you have a big 
map of the world behind you, and welcome to the Committee.

                STATEMENT OF DR. MIKE TRETHEWAY,

         CHIEF ECONOMIST AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,

                  INTERVISTAS CONSULTING INC.

    Mr. Tretheway. Well, thank you very much for the 
opportunity to share my thoughts about the PSP. I am Dr. Mike 
Tretheway, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin in Economics, and 
Chief Economist of InterVISTAS Consulting. We are a global 
transportation and tourism consulting practice, and I work out 
of both our Washington, D.C. and Vancouver offices and have a 
home in Wisconsin.
    I understand that industry representatives have been 
invited to provide evidence on specific impacts on the 
industry's workforce and recent operational issues. But I am 
not going to address those issues. What I would like to do is 
focus on international comparisons of what other nations did 
and how the U.S. compares to that. I have worked 
internationally for over 40 years and find that international 
comparisons can be very insightful.
    In brief, it is my opinion based on my 40 years of 
experience that the PSP and the overall policy response of 
Congress with unprecedented, severe, and sudden impact of the 
COVID-19 crisis was exemplary, and I would suggest it was best 
in class in the world. While every major policy dealing with a 
complex industry might not be perfect, the U.S. response met 
standards in eight key policy categories.
    The consequence has been that the U.S. is emerging more 
quickly, as you have seen on the chart, more quickly from the 
crisis and better poised to maintain market forces and not 
Government regulation and directions to drive the industry in 
the recovery period in the coming decade. So I am going to 
briefly comment on each of the policy categories I identified.
    First, the response was immediate. A comment just a moment 
ago from Senator Cantwell was that people don't have any 
concept of how fast the U.S. responded. I do. There are many 
nations right now that still haven't figured out their policy 
in the COVID market. So the response the U.S. provided, it was 
immediately. It did not take months and months.
    Second, that response provided certainty and therefore was 
confidence building for both the industry and the traveling 
public. Third, it is my view that the response was there in the 
sense that unlike many other nations such as Germany, Congress 
did not choose a single champion airline to support through the 
pandemic and provide it and only it or largely it with generous 
support.
    Congress stood ready to provide support to any and all 
qualifying airlines, airports, and other aviation supply chain 
businesses. Fourth, this policy was transparent. Congress' 
policy, the amount of support to be provided, the rules for 
access to that support were public and clear for all to see. In 
many other countries the amount of support, who would get it, 
and the rules are it still opaque. Fifth, the policy was 
focused on supporting economic and social connectivity and 
workforce retention.
    In my view, this is one of the most important aspects of 
Congress' policy. The policy objectives were clear, to ensure 
the continuing economic and social connectivity of the Nation, 
and second to ensure the continuity of the aviation work force. 
This workforce takes years to train and over decades took to 
develop a strong safety culture. There was risk that a slow 
response, an impartial and imperfect response, would compromise 
retention of the work force.
    This is in contrast to other nations where the focus was 
not on the key elements of connectivity and continuity of the 
work force. For example, Canada initially had no aviation 
specific program, only a general program available to any 
sector of the economy. A consequence of that is because it 
didn't focus on maintaining connectivity. Many Canadian 
communities lost all of their commercial air service.
    Wage support was followed in a number of nations but is not 
the same as maintaining continuity of connectivity. Six, the 
support program was comprehensive in coverage of the entire 
aviation supply chain. Most other nations focused on their 
airlines, a few might have added in airports but ignored the 
rest of the supply chain. Congress's program covered 
everything, including air cargo, manufacturing of aircraft, the 
whole supply chain. Seven, and this is very important to me as 
a market economists, the policy was grounded in retaining 
competition and market forces as the primary drivers of sector 
activities.
    The evidence is not only strong, but extremely strong that 
the benefits to the traveling public and aviation dependent 
businesses derive from market oriented policies in the U.S. I 
and many of my colleagues around the world in aviation 
economics are apprehensive that the post-pandemic era will find 
a playing field no longer to be leveled, with Governments 
having chosen specific champion carriers and provided 
significant support, and in many cases, direct Government 
intervention in decisions of these carriers.
    Finally, the policy was designed to position the aviation 
sector for a more rapid recovery and for competing globally in 
the post-pandemic era. Many other nations, as I indicated, 
champion airlines were chosen. Many of the airlines elsewhere 
will survive, but with massive amounts of debt that will burden 
these carriers, result in higher fares, and reduce travel.
    The U.S. program found an appropriate balance between 
direct support and debt so that the airlines and the whole 
aviation ecosystem will come out of this in a financially 
viable position for the long term. In sum, these criteria, in 
my view, are appropriate for assessing the U.S. policy response 
to the COVID-19 crisis. Several nations have done well on one 
or more of these criteria, but the U.S. is unique in achieving 
top marks in every category.
    The PSP will enable the U.S. aviation sector to meet the 
current and future economic and social connectivity needs of 
Americans.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Tretheway follows:]

     Prepared Statement of Dr. Mike Tretheway\1\, Chief Economist, 
                     InterVISTAS Consulting Inc.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Dr. Tretheway has a PhD in Economics from the University of 
Wisconsin. A former academic, he is co-founder of InterVISTAS 
Consulting. His area of expertise is Transportation Economics with 40 
years global experience in air transport, rail and port economics. A 
biography is attached.
    \2\ The views I express in this report are those of the author 
alone, and do not necessarily represent opinions of InterVISTAS 
Consulting Inc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The U.S. Payroll Support Program Successfully Met Critical Tests of 
                          Policy Effectiveness

                           December 13, 2021

    I thank the Committee for the opportunity to provide my thoughts on 
the Federal pandemic Payroll Support Program (PSP) to protect the 
airline industry workforce, support the continuity of safe and 
essential travel, and ensure the industry's ability to remain viable to 
meet future air travel demand.
    I understand that industry representatives have been invited to 
provide evidence on specific impacts on the industry's workforce and 
recent operational issues, hence I do not address these issues. I would 
like to provide comments on how the U.S. PSP compares to what other 
nations did. International comparisons can be insightful as different 
nations pursued different types of policies with different 
consequences.
    In brief, it is my opinion, based on 40 years' experience with 
aviation economics (airline, airport, air navigation and 
manufacturing), that the U.S. PSP and overall policy response to the 
unprecedented severe impact of the COVID-19 crisis was exemplary, and I 
would suggest ``best in class''. While any policy dealing with a 
complex industry might not be perfect, the U.S. response met the 
standards of being:

   Immediate;

   Certain, and therefore confidence building;

   Fair;

   Transparent;

   Focused on supporting economic and social connectivity and 
        workforce retention;

   Comprehensive in coverage of the aviation supply chain;

   Grounded in retaining competition and market forces as the 
        primary driver of sector activities; and

   Designed to position the U.S. aviation sector for recovery 
        and for competing globally

    These criteria are appropriate for assessing the U.S. policy 
response to the COVID-19 crisis. Several nations have done well on one 
or more of the criteria, but the U.S. is unique in achieving top marks 
in every category. Especially compared to many other nations, the PSP 
will enable the aviation sector to meet the current and future economic 
and social connectivity needs of Americans. The industry will also be 
positioned to compete globally and weather future challenges.
    I briefly look at each criterion--but first, I wish to discuss the 
importance of aviation for economic, social, medical, disaster response 
and other connectivity. This is why a transition support program\3\ for 
aviation was warranted.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ It is important to distinguish different categories of support 
for businesses. Bailouts are payments to business whose business model 
and/or management has failed. That is not the case with U.S. airlines, 
airports and other aviation supply chain members who began to incur 
massive losses from the pandemic and government imposed travel 
restrictions. Compensation is payment to businesses to offset losses 
incurred by the business due to government decisions. Transition 
support are payments to businesses that are well managed and pursing 
economically efficient business models, but were subjected to an 
unanticipated event that threatens their ability to continue to serve 
the market. More on these distinctions can be found in my report titled 
``Observations Regarding the Economics of Enterprise Bailouts,'' 
available at https://www.intervistas.com/observations-regardingthe-
economics-of-enterprise-bailouts/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Importance of Aviation
    Developing an aviation specific support program like PSP can only 
be justified if the industry is of broad importance to the Nation. 
Aviation is a critical infrastructure sector, not merely for the 
economy but for social purposes as well.

   1.3 million direct on-airport jobs and above average wages.
    Many organizations have put forward measures of the economic impact 
        of aviation, both in terms of the number of direct jobs in the 
        sector and its direct gross domestic product. I focus on job 
        impacts, since preserving jobs were the key focus of the PSP. 
        The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in December 
        2019 there were 750,000 direct jobs at U.S. airlines. Airports 
        Council International--North America reports that in 2017, 
        including airline, airport, ground support and other jobs, 
        there were more than 1.3 million U.S. direct jobs on commercial 
        airports. On average, aviation direct jobs pay above average 
        wages.

   Jobs in other sectors depend on aviation connectivity.
    The economic impact of aviation is larger than on-airport jobs. 
        Many U.S. economic sectors depend on aviation's connectivity. 
        The ACI study identified roughly 4.4 million direct U.S. jobs 
        dependent on visitors that use airports and spend $250 billion. 
        These visitor-based jobs include not only tourism jobs, but 
        jobs dependent on individuals travelling for business, visiting 
        friends and relatives, education, medical care, disaster 
        support, etc. The wholesale and retail distribution sectors 
        increasingly are dependent on rapid resupply as supply chains 
        are challenged and the emerging e-commerce sector makes heavy 
        use of air cargo.

    Economists also identify indirect and induced jobs in other 
        economic sectors dependent on the spending of the airlines and 
        airports. These are the ``multiplier'' impacts. While direct 
        jobs are straightforward to measure (as these individuals are 
        employed directly by airlines, airports, etc.), multiplier 
        effects have to be ``modelled'' and the measures can vary, with 
        some economists being skeptical of any specific measure. I do 
        not put forward specific multiplier impacts but note that a) in 
        general they more than double the number of jobs linked to 
        aviation, b) two Nobel prizes have been awarded for development 
        of the data and methodology for multiplier impacts, and c) the 
        COVID-19 economic experience should make clear to everyone that 
        when times are bad, multiplier effects are genuine--as each 
        sector of the economy weakened, their suppliers suffered job 
        losses of their own--as recovery begins, jobs grow in support 
        sectors.

   It's not just economics: Social, medical, disaster response, 
        education as well as business depend on aviation connectivity.
    While the aviation industry has tended to focus on its economic 
        importance, there are other equally or more important impacts:

     Remote and isolated communities.
      Commercial and general/business aviation provide essential 
            connectivity to remote and isolated communities. These 
            communities depend on aviation for nutrition, medical care, 
            education, and social services, as well as selling products 
            and services to the national and global economy.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ See the recent OECD International Transportation Forum Report 
https://www.itf-oecd.org/connecting-remote-communities.

     Medical connectivity.
      Commercial and private aviation transport patients (and their 
            families), medical practitioners, essential maintenance 
            technicians and essential medicines, personal protective 
            equipment, and other supplies, etc.

     Education connectivity:
      Air transport supports the movement of students and instructors. 
            In person human interaction is increasingly being found to 
            be essential to knowledge exchange and expansion.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ See for example: ``New Harvard Research Identifies Business 
Travel as Driver of Economic Growth,'' August 2020, https://
growthlab.cid.harvard.edu/news/new-harvard-research-identifies-
business-travel-driver-economic-growth

     Disaster response.
      Both commercial and general aviation provide the immediate 
            connectivity of supplies, rescue and medical personnel and 
            medevac when disaster strikes.

     The pick-up truck of remote locations.
      Aviation is a critical element of many businesses in remote 
            regions. Helicopters play critical roles for electric power 
            and pipeline systems. Many sectors of agriculture--
            including forestry management--depend on fixed wing, 
            helicopter and remote piloted aircraft. Business aviation 
            moves technicians and parts for urgently needed repairs and 
            installation,. . .

     Social connectivity.
      Saving the best for last, aviation is critical for social 
            connectivity. This includes visiting friends and relatives, 
            cultural experiences, the arts, and government 
            administration. 100 to 150 years ago, maritime and rail 
            transport were the Nation builders. Today, aviation is what 
            directly connects people.
Immediate
    I now turn to my assessment of the policy. The COVID-19 crisis 
emerged suddenly. The first cases were found overseas in November 2019, 
and by the end of March 2020, the number of U.S. air passengers had 
declined by 90 percent, with the collapse contained in roughly a one-
month period. (See Figure 1.) Unlike manufacturing sectors where unsold 
product can be placed in inventory (and financed) for later sale, 
aviation services are perishable and non-recoverable. In 2019, U.S. 
airlines spent roughly $70 million every day on fuel, labor, aircraft, 
fees, and finance. Without incoming revenue from ticket sales and 
passenger activity, even those airlines (and airports) with strong cash 
positions would rapidly exhaust their financial resources.
    What was more pressing was that aviation is a complex industry 
which has built an incredible safety knowledge base that is dependent 
on a highly trained and experienced workforce. Without some sort of 
financial support, in the face of a 90 percent collapse in demand, 
airlines would be compelled to lay off a large portion of their trained 
and experienced staff, and this indeed happened in many nations. Doing 
so immediately reduces national connectivity for economic, social, 
medical and other vital needs and undermines the ability to rapidly 
restore capacity.
    The U.S. Congress reacted quickly to maintain both connectivity and 
to retain a vital workforce. There was no vacillation about the need to 
support aviation connectivity and its workforce. Few other nations in 
the world reacted as quickly. As a result, connectivity of their 
domestic and international air services fell precipitously. In 
contrast, the U.S. was able retain an effective degree of connectivity 
and workforce continuity throughout the pandemic. No other nation 
responded as quickly with a broad aviation program focused on the goals 
of connectivity and workforce retention.
Certainty and Confidence
    The U.S. Congress not only reacted immediately, but it also 
provided sufficient support to the entire aviation sector to provide 
certainty that national connectivity would be sustained. This provided 
confidence that employees could retain their skill sets in aviation and 
not need to migrate to other sectors. Some nations eventually provided 
support to their aviation industries, but without the immediate 
certainty and confidence that the U.S. achieved. For example, Canada 
treated aviation like any other economic sector and did not develop and 
aviation specific program. The focus was on wages, a worthy goal, but 
without a policy to maintain connectivity. While eventually the 
Canadian level of support to aviation rose to levels per capita not 
dissimilar to the U.S., the lack of an immediate aviation specific 
program early in 2020 resulted in uncertainty for communities, 
carriers, and workers. The result was that some Canadian carriers 
ceased operating (e.g., Porter Airlines), and a number of communities 
lost all scheduled commercial air service, leaving them unconnected for 
an extended period.\6\ There were also financial capital benefits of 
the certainty and confidence created by the PSP. When there is 
uncertainty that individual carriers (and airports and support 
businesses) will be able to weather a crisis and return to service, it 
is difficult to raise private equity and debt for survival and 
resurrection.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ To its credit, the Canadian government did recognize the 
importance of connectivity to remote and isolated northern communities 
and provided support for continuity of these services.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fair
    The U.S. PSP was fair in that it provided support for all eligible 
firms. Unlike the case of many other nations, it was not a program that 
chose a champion carrier and supported it with transitional funds, 
leaving other carriers to fend for themselves. Sometimes the support of 
the champion was subtle. E.g., some modest general support programs may 
have been put in place, but the champion carrier received a different, 
much larger financial support package, often involving government 
equity investment in the champion carrier, but not in other carriers. 
Germany is only one of several cases where the champion carrier 
received substantial support, but other carriers received little or no 
support. Singapore, several Middle East countries, France and the 
Netherlands are other oft-cited cases. The champion carrier received 
substantial support and other carriers, such as low cost or ultra low-
cost carriers that had provided substantial national connectivity did 
not. This implication is that in the recovery and post-recovery period, 
the playing field will not be level. I will comment further on this 
momentarily. This is not to say that there have not been issues with 
the U.S. PSP about how the support criterion apportioned grants and 
debt access among industry participants, but the U.S. Congress was fair 
in the sense that it did not choose winners and losers--this is left to 
the market.
Transparent
    Another key attribute of the PSP program is that it is transparent. 
The legislation was clear in specifying how much funding was available, 
which sub-sectors (airlines, airports, air cargo, business aviation) 
were to receive which amounts, what the criteria was for applicants and 
how much individual carriers, airports and other business actually 
received.\7\ This is not to say that every element of the program is 
without controversy, but the rules were clear and for all to see. This 
was not the case in many other nations. In Canada, while meaningful 
support was eventually made available to carriers and airports, in many 
cases the amounts involved were matters of press releases from the 
carriers and airports. Delays in financing resulted because of issues 
such as whether carriers were going to refund non-refundable tickets 
and whether such refunds were to be financed by grants or not.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\ The U.S. Government Accountability Office has provided a series 
of reports to Congress during the pandemic documenting the U.S. COVID-
19 support policies and observations on their impacts. See for example, 
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22104429
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Focused
    The PSP was not developed as a bailout of failing firms.\8\ It was 
a policy focused on providing transitional support for two key short-to 
long-term objectives. The first key objective was of continuity of air 
service for almost every community previously served. Service 
continuity was a requirement for the air carriers. This was to provide 
economic and social connectivity at a critical point in the Nation's 
economic, social, and medical experience. The second key objective was 
workforce retention of a highly skilled workforce, critical for safety, 
and which requires years of training and experience. Again, workforce 
continuity was a requirement. The experienced, safety-oriented aviation 
workforce is needed to support the recovery of air travel, and with the 
long lead times to develop necessary skills and experience, the 
continuity of the aviation labor force will pay great dividends to the 
Nation. It is my observation that few, if any, other nations 
articulated focused objectives for the aviation support programs. For 
them, the objective of continuity of airlines was stated, but the 
programs did not tie support to the more fundamental objectives of 
maintaining service and connectivity during the crisis. The consequence 
was that a) some employees sought employment elsewhere and either will 
not return to the aviation industry as recovery unfolds or will require 
time and expense to become qualified and refresh skills; and b) many 
communities lost their air connectivity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ It is important to recognize three terms regarding support for 
businesses. See footnote 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comprehensive
    The U.S. PSP program was comprehensive in that it recognized that 
aviation is an eco-system involving not only the air carriers, but also 
airports, general and business aviation, independent maintenance 
providers, ground handlers and manufacturers. The entire supply chain 
needs to survive the crisis and be ready for the recovery. Post 
pandemic aviation economic and social connectivity and service to the 
Nation will only be as strong as the weakest link. I know of no other 
nation that articulated its aviation pandemic transitional support with 
a comprehensive understanding of the entire aviation eco-system.
Retaining competition and market forces as the primary driver
    As a market economist I place great importance on economic 
decisions being made by the market and competition. The evidence is not 
only strong, but very strong of the benefits to the travelling public 
and to aviation-dependent businesses from market-oriented policies for 
aviation such as deregulation, privatization and liberalization. The 
1978 U.S. deregulation policy was passed near unanimously by Congress 
and its rapid success became the model for the entire world. The U.S. 
reliance on private enterprise for airlines led many nations to 
privatize their carriers. The U.S. pursuit of liberalized air service 
agreements to allow market forces to prevail over government edicts on 
fares, service levels and even sandwich sizes have created 
unprecedented access to air connectivity for economic and social 
pursuits. I, and many of my colleagues around the world, are 
apprehensive about the post-pandemic aviation playing field being 
unlevel. In too many nations, massive government grants and equity 
investments in champion carriers but not others raise a question as to 
whether the post-pandemic industry will provide the same consumer and 
social benefits. The PSP was intentionally designed to maintain the 
market and all of its pre-pandemic carriers and airports. It did not 
use the crisis to impose government judgement of which carriers should 
survive. While it is now too late for other nations to pursue level 
playing field responses during the crisis, hopefully they will observe 
and heed U.S. 2020-21 leadership on the design of aviation policy.
Positioning the aviation eco system for a more rapid recovery
    My last key point is that the PSP policy of Congress was well 
designed in positioning the aviation sector for a more rapid recovery.

   In many other nations, airlines and airports have survived 
        but with massive new debt that will have to be serviced and 
        retired. The PSP found a balance between direct support (linked 
        to continuity of community connectivity and the trained 
        aviation workforce) and debt.

   Outside the U.S., those airlines and airports with 
        substantial increases in debt will suffer higher costs.

   The higher costs may result in higher fares, especially in 
        those nations where the playing field was unleveled in favor of 
        champion carriers.

   The more balanced U.S. transitional support of its carriers 
        may better position them competitively during the recovery and 
        post-pandemic periods.

   Alternatively, carriers elsewhere will be more vulnerable to 
        failure with their greater financial burden.

   Foreign carriers whose labor forces were dispersed during 
        the pandemic will incur higher expenses to re-attract, train 
        and requalify workers to an industry which in their cases will 
        be viewed as now having greater uncertainty. The U.S. aviation 
        sector has greater continuity and thus lower costs. This is not 
        to say that there will not be case-by-case challenges in the 
        U.S. industry during the recovery, but the U.S. industry is 
        better positioned than almost all others that rely on market 
        forces.

    Market recovery progress. Comparing the current degree of market 
recovery of the U.S. versus other nations is complex. Nations differ in 
terms of current travel restrictions and processes. The relative shares 
of domestic versus international travel is also a factor as domestic 
markets are recovering more quickly while international travel faces 
continued and changing restrictions. Nevertheless, a few figures of the 
current state of affairs may be useful.
    Figures 1 and 2 compare the recovery of traffic to 2019 levels for 
the U.S. versus Canada. U.S. passenger traffic U.S. is 77 percent that 
of 2019 as of the first week of December. Canada, which has a higher 
international portion of travel, is only at 58 percent recovery, and 
only a few months ago was at 10 percent recovery while the U.S. was 
well ahead.


    The table below provides a comparison for a few other nations of 
domestic seat capacity in November 2021 versus the same month in 2019 
of nations with large domestic markets.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\ Capacity recovery is higher than recovery of passenger numbers 
as load factors (percent of seats filled with paying customers) is 
down, but increasing in the U.S.


    Forecasts. There are a number of forecasts available of commercial 
airline traffic and when recovery will take place.\10\ While they 
differ somewhat, there are common findings.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ Forecasts are available from, among others, Airports Council 
International--World, the International Air Transport Association, 
Boeing and InterVISTAS Consulting.
    \11\ All are dependent to a large extent on no new outbreak of 
COVID-19 variants that evade current vaccines and the continuation of 
social distancing measures on aircraft.

   Domestic markets will recovery more quickly, likely 
        achieving full recovery to 2019 levels by 2024, possibly late 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        2023 for the U.S.

   International markets will recover more slowly, possibly 
        delayed by one to two years, longer for regions with lower 
        vaccine rates.

   While traffic is expected to recover to 2019 levels within 
        the next 1-3 years, it will be longer before traffic returns to 
        its previous long-term trend. But all the forecasts expect that 
        air connectivity and traffic will continue to grow. Thus, 
        infrastructure challenges that were present in 2019 will still 
        need to be addressed.

   There will be differences in recovery rates of market 
        segments.

     ``Visiting Friends and Relatives'' travel is expected 
            to recover strongly and quickly, as is leisure travel. 
            Social connectivity is a priority for many families.

     Business travel will take longer to recover, and some 
            parts of business travel may recover weakly. Conferences 
            and other knowledge and networking travel are expected to 
            recover almost fully, while intra-corporate travel may 
            recover only partially.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\ A good discussion of the potential scenario for business 
travel recovery can be found in the report by IdeaWorks, ``The Journey 
Ahead: How the Pandemic and Technology Will Change Airline Business 
Travel.'' IdeaWorks forecasts that in the medium term, business travel 
is likely to only recover between 19 percent and 38 percent. https://
ideaworkscompany.com/the-journey-ahead-how-thepandemic-and-technology-
will-change-airline-business-travel-report/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   A recent study by Airport Council International--World 
        identified that recovery rates will be slower for those 
        individuals who did not travel at all during the pandemic. This 
        identifies a challenge for the industry and for governments in 
        providing clarity and consistency in border and health policy 
        for air travel.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\ https://aci.aero/events/asq-2021-global-traveller-survey-
evolution-of-sentiment-and-behaviours-part-1/

   The U.S. will be one of the fastest markets to recover.
Closing Comment
    I close with the question I was asked to address: my thoughts on 
the issue of ``the Federal pandemic Payroll Support Program (PSP) to 
protect the airline industry workforce, support the continuity of safe 
and essential travel, and ensure the industry's ability to remain 
viable to meet future air travel demand,'' I observe:

   The PSP was not focused merely on proving financial support 
        for carriers. It was correctly focused on the key objectives of 
        retaining the airline industry workforce and ensuring the 
        continuity of economic and social connectivity. Other nations 
        largely conceptualized their support programs as one of 
        supporting carriers and worker incomes, rather than supporting 
        connectivity and employment continuity.

   Congress provided an immediate (relative to other nations) 
        response to the COVID-19 crisis for aviation, creating 
        certainty and confidence. This enabled the market to continue 
        to function.

   The PSP was designed to be a fair program for the entire 
        aviation eco-system and all carriers and airports. Unlike 
        several other nations the U.S. did not select and favor a 
        champion carrier.

   The PSP is a transparent program with clear rules, amounts, 
        decision making processes and disclosure. This is not the case 
        at many other nations.

   The PSP maintained the aviation level playing field. It 
        relied on and did not distort the market and competitive 
        forces.

   The PSP has positioned the U.S. aviation industry for a more 
        rapid recovery, and a faster ability to restore financial 
        resilience to support growth and future challenges the industry 
        will face.
                                 ______
                                 
                                [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
                                 

    The Chairwoman. Thank you, Mr. Tretheway. Thank you so 
much. And I will remind our witnesses that if you can stick to 
5 minutes, it would be so appreciated. We appreciate your 
comments, Mr. Tretheway, and we will now go to Mr. Parker.

STATEMENT OF DOUG PARKER, CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, 
                 AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP, INC.

    Mr. Parker. Thank you. And I, like Ranking Member Wicker, I 
am tempted to cede my time because the Chair's comments were so 
consistent with mine. But like Ranking Member Wicker, I also 
would like to give my remarks, mainly because I want to thank 
the two of you and the rest of this committee.
    We, at American Airlines, are deeply grateful for the 
pandemic assistance we received through the CARES Act and the 
Payroll Support Program. We are extremely appreciative of 
everyone who made it possible, including the members of this 
committee. You showed leadership at a time that it was needed 
most. And you demonstrated a commitment to our industry and our 
team members that made a lasting impact. So I would like to 
take a moment to say thank you and to assure you that the 
support of the U.S. Government extended to us was well worth 
it.
    I want to state it succinctly and unequivocally, the 
Payroll Support Program has been an overwhelming success. 
American Airlines fought hard for the CARES Act and the 
subsequent extensions of PSP, and we did so in close 
partnership with lawmakers from both parties and in lockstep 
with our labor union partners. PSP shows what can be 
accomplished through bipartisanship and compromise. And all 
those who were involved in crafting the program deserve a great 
deal of credit.
    When the CARES Act passed, we understood that receiving 
financial support from the Federal Government comes with an 
obligation to serve. It was an obligation we were ready, 
willing, and humbled to accept. And we are very proud of how 
our team has delivered. Thanks to PSP, we have the team in 
place that we need to run our airlines successfully. In fact, 
at American Airlines, we have as many or more pilots and flight 
attendants per scheduled crew block hour this year as we have 
had in years preceding the pandemic.
    So with our team at the ready, we have been able to run a 
safe and reliable airline, and continue providing critical air 
service, including the small and rural communities. As I have 
outlined in my written testimony, American Airlines and all 
U.S. carriers are delivering on our commitments with an overall 
operational performance this year that is as good or better 
than before the pandemic.
    Not only has American performed well, we have done so while 
growing back at an unprecedented pace. We grew an industry 
leading 82 percent from the first quarter to the second quarter 
of this year, and we are providing significantly more service 
to the flying public than any of our competitors. We took that 
aggressive approach because the central purpose of PSP was to 
ensure we were able to provide air service when travelers 
decided they were ready to get back to flying.
    In addition to the strong year to date operational 
performance I mentioned, I am also pleased to say that American 
delivered a stellar performance with the Thanksgiving travel 
period, and we are off to a great start in December as we look 
toward the upcoming holidays. I am extremely proud of how our 
team has stepped up as demand has rebounded. They have shown 
tremendous professionalism and dedication to the customers we 
have had the privilege to care for.
    Now, like other airlines and numerous other businesses, we 
have experience about operational challenges in recent months, 
which we have worked to manage as deftly as possible and with 
the utmost care for our customers and our team. While various 
pandemic related factors have caused our operation to run tight 
when extraordinary disruptions occur, these events have been 
the distinct exception, not the rule.
    A strong U.S. airline industry has been and will continue 
to be critical to the overall economic recovery from COVID-19. 
Because of your leadership, U.S. airlines are competing 
vigorously. Fares have remained low. And we are doing our part 
as an industry to support the ongoing economic recovery. 
Indeed, according to the DOT, the average domestic itinerary 
fare in 2019 was the lowest inflation adjusted annual fair on 
record. And fares have declined further yet in 2020 and 2021. 
So in summary, I am incredibly proud of how the American 
Airlines team has managed through the pandemic.
    Early on, we agreed that this one day would pass, and what 
would matter most is how we treated each other, our customers, 
and those in our care. Looking back, I am extremely proud of 
the decisions we made and the values we used to guide us. And 
on a personal note, I have been humbled by the thousands of 
American Airlines team members who have thanked me for fighting 
for their jobs, so it gives me tremendous pleasure today to 
pass those thanks along to you.
    So thank you for your support of our team, for all you have 
done to protect the vitality of our industry. I look forward to 
taking your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Parker follows:]

    Prepared Statement of Doug Parker, Chairman and Chief Executive 
                 Officer, American Airlines Group, Inc.
Introduction
    Good afternoon. I'm Doug Parker, Chairman and CEO of American 
Airlines.
    I would like to begin by thanking Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member 
Wicker, and the members of this committee for the opportunity to appear 
before you today.
    The charge for today's hearing is to examine the impact of the 
Federal funding provided to U.S. airlines through the Coronavirus Aid, 
Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the subsequent extensions 
of the Payroll Support Program (PSP).
    American Airlines is deeply grateful for the pandemic assistance we 
received, and we are extraordinarily appreciative of the efforts of 
policymakers in Congress and two administrations who made it possible, 
including many members of this committee. You showed tremendous 
leadership at a time when it was needed most, and you demonstrated a 
commitment to our team members that made a lasting impact.
    On behalf of more than 100,000 American Airlines team members--85 
percent of whom are members of a labor union and 25,000 of whom faced 
the stark reality of a furlough notice during the pandemic--I'd like to 
take this moment to say thank you, and to assure you that the support 
the U.S. government extended to us was well worth it.
    Allow me to explain why.
The impact of COVID-19 on U.S. airlines
    The devastation inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic has been 
profound and universal, and the gut punch we took as airlines has been 
well-documented. However, nearly two years removed from the start of 
the pandemic, it is worthwhile to recall just how severe a crisis our 
industry faced.
    Nothing in history has ever come even remotely close to negatively 
impacting demand for air travel like COVID-19. In fact, from the onset 
of the pandemic through November of this year, the impact of COVID-19 
on U.S. airline demand has exceeded the combined effect of Sept. 11, 
the Great Recession, SARS, H1N1, and the 1991 Gulf War by a factor of 
more than three.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    For American, in the final week of March 2020, our passenger 
revenues were 96 percent lower than the same period in 2019, and our 
load factor was 14 percent compared to 85 percent in the same week of 
March 2019, even though we had reduced our capacity by nearly two-
thirds.
    In response to the unprecedented evaporation of demand, we took 
aggressive self-help measures like grounding aircraft, canceling 
flying, and implementing a major cost-reduction program. While these 
actions were necessary, they were not sustainable, and unfortunately, 
they were not enough to eliminate the potential for a massive number of 
furloughs across the industry.
    It was in the midst of this unparalleled crisis that the Payroll 
Support Program, which would go on to save the jobs and protect the 
livelihoods of many thousands of workers at American Airlines and 
across the industry, was devised.
The Payroll Support Program saved the airline industry by providing a 
        lifeline for its workers
    To state it succinctly and unequivocally: The PSP has been an 
overwhelming success.
    I'm proud to say that American Airlines fought hard for the CARES 
Act and the subsequent extensions of the PSP. I'm even prouder to say 
we did all of it hand-in-hand with the leadership and members of this 
committee, in partnership with a wide swath of lawmakers from both 
parties, and in lockstep with our labor union partners. The PSP stands 
as a shining example of what can be accomplished through bipartisanship 
and compromise, and all those who were involved in the policymaking 
process deserve a great deal of credit for that.
    It's not an exaggeration to say the program saved the airline 
industry, which Congress and the administration recognized as critical 
infrastructure that is as essential to the economy as it is unique. 
While there was relatively little debate at the time about whether the 
industry should be supported, there was significant debate about the 
form that support should take. Some suggested it should be provided 
entirely in loans, which we would have thankfully accepted to stay 
solvent, but most all of us would have survived by shutting down flying 
in April 2020, furloughing almost all of our teams, and waiting for 
demand to return to levels strong enough to justify restoring flying. 
As it turns out, that would have been sometime in 2021.
    Fortunately, the support was ultimately structured as a combination 
of loans and grants, with the PSP as the critical component. It kept us 
flying by paying us to pay our team. In exchange, we agreed not to 
involuntarily separate anyone or reduce pay rates, and we agreed to 
maintain air service to the communities we served prior to the 
pandemic. The program also set limits on executive compensation, added 
restrictions on stock buybacks and dividends, and gave the American 
taxpayers a stake in the industry so they would see the benefits of our 
recovery.
    Because of the support U.S. airlines received, our team and our 
industry have been able to help prevent a hyper-stressed economy, 
shocked by the spread of a novel virus, from grinding to a halt. 
Throughout the worst stages of the pandemic, American Airlines 
continued leading the industry in number of U.S. communities served. We 
carried essential workers, including medical professionals, to the 
locations where they were most needed. We transported critical 
supplies, including PPE and vaccines, on flights around the country and 
across the globe. In fact, in March 2020, we launched our first cargo-
only flights since 1984, and by the end of the year, American had 
carried 167 million pounds of goods on close to 5,300 cargo-only 
flights.
    It's because of the assistance extended to us through the CARES Act 
and the PSP that we've been able to support a nation and a world in 
crisis. It's brilliant policy, written during a time of extraordinary 
uncertainty, and our entire industry remains incredibly grateful for 
it.
Fulfilling our obligation to serve as demand returns
    As we made the case for the PSP, we understood that receiving 
financial support from the Federal government would come with an 
obligation to serve. It was an obligation we were ready, willing, and 
humbled to accept.
    Demand for air travel came back swiftly in the spring of 2021 as 
COVID-19 vaccines became available and more widely distributed. Thanks 
to the PSP and just as intended, U.S. airlines were ready, and we 
sprang into action to serve the massive influx of customers returning 
to the skies.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    At American, we grew our airline by a whopping 82 percent from the 
first quarter to the second quarter of 2021, providing significantly 
more service to the flying public than any of our competitors. We flew 
over 24 million customers in quarter one and 44 million customers in 
quarter two, which is about one-third more than our next-closest 
competitor in both cases.
    This was an unprecedented ramp-up of our operation--the largest in 
our history, in fact. No airline has ever attempted to expand at the 
pace we did after a demand shock of the magnitude we experienced during 
the pandemic. We took this aggressive approach because the central 
purpose of the PSP was to ensure we were able to provide air service 
when travelers decided they were ready to get back to flying.
    We knew we had an obligation to fulfill, and we are proud of how we 
have delivered.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    It's important to note that all of this was done with operational 
performance that was as good or better than before the pandemic. In 
fact, American closed the month of September with the best operational 
performance in our airline's history, 2020 notwithstanding. While 
flying the largest airline in the world, carrying more than 14 million 
customers, we recorded our most reliable September since the merger in 
2013, based on completion factor, on-time departures, and on-time 
arrivals. More recently, over the Thanksgiving holiday period, American 
operated 95.7 percent of the domestic capacity we operated during 
Thanksgiving 2019, and we did so with stellar performance.
    The story is the same across the industry. While there have been 
some high-profile challenges, the data shows that overall, U.S. 
airlines have been delivering operational reliability that is on par 
with or better than the years preceding the pandemic.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    This year, the combined completion factor of the six major U.S. 
carriers is consistent with pre-pandemic years, and we've delivered an 
on-time arrival performance that actually exceeds pre-pandemic years.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    U.S. airlines are meeting and exceeding operational expectations, 
just as we pledged.
    I'm extremely proud of how the American Airlines team has stepped 
up as demand has rebounded. They've shown tremendous professionalism 
and dedication to the customers we've had the privilege to care for, 
and I know they've made millions of travelers' return to the skies the 
experience they've been waiting for.
Managing operational challenges to deliver on our commitments
    As has been the case across industries and throughout the global 
economy--with the ongoing supply chain crunch as a stark example--the 
return of demand for air travel has been intense. Like other airlines, 
we have experienced some operational challenges in recent months, which 
we have worked to manage as deftly as possible and with the utmost care 
for our customers and team members.
    Thanks to the PSP, we have the team we need to operate the schedule 
we've planned. We've continued to welcome team members back to the 
company, and we are aggressively onboarding new hires.
    To be more specific, American has as many or more pilots and flight 
attendants per scheduled crew block hour this year as we had in the 
years preceding the pandemic. This is the best measure of the adequacy 
of our crew staffing because it reflects the number of active pilots 
and flight attendants who are eligible to fly, the number of aircraft 
we have available and scheduled for deployment, and the number of 
crewmembers we need for each flight based on the equipment and the 
destination.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    As the charts above illustrate, when it comes to having the team we 
need, we are in as good of a position now as in recent years, if not 
better. Nonetheless, there are pandemic-related factors at play that 
have caused our operation to run tight when extraordinary disruptions 
arise.
    For our team members on the frontline, a significant share of their 
work as customer service professionals is now devoted to enforcing mask 
mandates and other pandemic-related policies. Not only is this a 
departure from the job they signed up for, but it's also not as 
rewarding. Airlines have required masks since early in the pandemic as 
an additive health and safety measure, and our industry strongly 
supported the introduction of the Federal mask mandate, but there's no 
denying that it has altered the day-to-day duties of many of our team 
members.
    It's tough work because we're seeing customer emotions run high, 
and the industry has experienced an unsettling raft of passenger 
disturbances and assaults onboard aircraft and in airports. These 
incidents are not all related to masks, and the overwhelming majority 
of our flights take place without issue, but the general level of 
disrespect, anger, and impatience our team has had to manage in recent 
months is simply inexcusable. It should not be part of their jobs.
    Our industry has worked closely with the Federal Aviation 
Administration, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and 
others, to address and deter this type of unacceptable behavior, and 
we're grateful for the agency's vigorous efforts to ensure that 
passengers who act out while traveling by air are met with the serious 
consequences laid out in Federal law. We also support the recent 
announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice on prioritizing the 
prosecution of those passengers who commit Federal crimes on our 
aircraft.
    Our team is resilient, but with that workplace environment as the 
backdrop, we have found a higher-than-usual reticence among our 
crewmembers to pick up additional trips or fly above their minimum-
required hours during the pandemic. Unfortunately, this severely 
impairs our ability to recover quickly in instances of extraordinary 
disruptions to service, because recovery is so dependent on team 
members choosing to pick up flying above their minimum-required levels. 
We have adjusted our staffing models accordingly, but it's something we 
continue to grapple with as a company and an industry, and it 
contributed to the operational challenges we dealt with at the end of 
October.
    In that case, we experienced an extraordinary disruption when we 
were hit with two days of unforecasted severe winds at Dallas-Fort 
Worth International Airport (DFW), our largest hub, leading to the 
closure of three of the five runways on which our operation typically 
relies. The resulting cancellations put many of our team members out of 
their regular flight sequences, a consequence exacerbated by the fact 
that the end of the month is also the end of the bid period, limiting 
the availability of crewmembers who have already reached their maximum 
flying time. While the cancellations were driven almost entirely by the 
situation at DFW, they were extended because we had difficulty getting 
crewmembers to pick up additional flights. It's likely not a 
coincidence that those difficulties came in the wake of one of our 
flight attendants being violently attacked by a customer who punched 
her and broke her nose.
    We made the difficult decision that weekend to proactively adjust 
our schedule. We never want to disappoint those who choose to fly with 
us, so that decision was not made lightly. Our team got to work 
rebooking our customers who were impacted by the changes, and we were 
able to recover and resume normal operations by Tuesday.
    I provide these details to underscore that these events have been 
the distinct exception, not the rule. In our view, the reduction in 
desire to pick up trips is largely caused by events related to the 
pandemic and should gradually dissipate. In the meantime, while 
recovering from extraordinary disruptions has been more difficult, 
we've still delivered an overall operational performance this year that 
has met or exceeded our pre-pandemic norm.
    As we began to focus on running an outstanding operation for the 
holidays, we developed incentive pay programs for peak travel periods 
to fortify our efforts to operate every flight on our schedule and to 
encourage flight crews to pick up additional work in the event of 
another extraordinary disruption. We provided extra pay for the vast 
majority of our frontline team members to pick up shifts during the 
Thanksgiving holiday, and we are providing 300 percent pay to flight 
attendants with no absences between Nov. 15 and Jan. 2, with similar 
programs in place for other work groups. The incentive pay contributed 
to our smooth operation over Thanksgiving, and we're confident that 
these programs will help us deliver a similarly smooth travel 
experience over Christmas and the New Year, as well.
    Speaking of Thanksgiving, it's worth spending a moment on the 
details of the industry's excellent performance. On the Sunday after 
the holiday, 2.5 million passengers passed through TSA checkpoints--a 
pandemic record. And over the 10-day holiday travel window, 20.9 
million total passengers were screened. From the Friday before 
Thanksgiving to the Sunday afterward, the big six U.S. carriers 
delivered the best completion factor since the same time period in 
2017, with an on-time performance exceeding the Thanksgiving weekends 
of 2018 and 2019.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Today, American Airlines is serving an average of more than 500,000 
customers on over 5,600 daily flights to more than 300 destinations 
across the country and around the globe. This is all a testament to the 
dedication, resilience, and skill of our frontline team, and proof 
positive of the success of the PSP.
The PSP has enabled the industry's ongoing recovery
    By now, we know that the recovery from the pandemic will be 
prolonged. It's certainly true for our business. But no matter how far 
removed we are from the depths of the crisis, American will continue to 
be guided by the obligation to serve that we accepted when we accepted 
PSP funds.
    For one, we're flying close to the same capacity this month as we 
were in December 2019, not to mention more than our competitors. We are 
ready and eager to fly our customers where they need and want to go as 
they celebrate this holiday season.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    As for our team, not only have we excitedly welcomed back team 
members who were furloughed when the PSP lapsed, I am pleased to say 
that American hired more than 16,000 new team members across all our 
workgroups this year. This included more than 1,350 pilots, over 1,600 
flight attendants, an additional 1,000 tech ops and maintenance 
professionals, and more than 2,000 reservations agents. We believe this 
positive momentum will continue into next year, as we've set a target 
of hiring an additional 18,000 team members in 2022. Each time we add 
to our ranks, it's like a dividend payment on the investment made in 
our team through the PSP; instead of building back from collapse, we're 
growing to provide more promising careers in good-paying jobs to hard-
working individuals who are the lifeblood of our Nation's economy.
    A strong U.S. airline industry has been--and will continue to be--
elemental to the overall economic recovery from COVID-19. We've 
remained strong because of the support we've received, but also because 
of robust competition in the marketplace and fares that remain low 
despite historic inflation.
    Even before the pandemic, fares were low. In fact, according to the 
U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 
average domestic itinerary fare in 2019 was the lowest inflation-
adjusted annual fare since the bureau began collecting such data--and 
fares declined further still in 2020 and 2021. While prices are rising 
on all manner of consumer goods, airfares have declined to the lowest 
level since the late-1990s. Just a few weeks ago, the New York Times 
reported that while fuel oil--one of our main costs--increased 59 
percent from October 2020 to October 2021, airfares went down by 5 
percent during the same period. And November's inflation report showed 
the same pattern: Overall inflation reached a 39-year high, but 
airfares fell 3.7 percent. And to put the value of air travel in 
perspective, consider this: From 1979 to 2019, the price of a day at 
Disney's Magic Kingdom rose 10 times as fast as the price of air 
travel. Traveling by air on a U.S. airline remains a great value, and 
American consumers are proving as much by taking to the skies in 
growing numbers.
    To those who may wonder whether this story would be the same 
without the CARES Act and the PSP, let me tell you my view: It most 
definitely would not. Fortunately, because of the foresight and 
commitment of our Nation's leaders, American is in a position to 
continue competing vigorously with our peers while we, as an industry, 
buttress the ongoing pandemic recovery.
Conclusion
    I am so proud of how our team has managed through the pandemic. 
Early on, we agreed that this would one day pass, and what would matter 
most is how we treated each other, our customers, our partners, and 
those in our care. As I look back now, I feel confident in the 
decisions we made during COVID-19 and the values we used to guide us.
    Earlier in my testimony, I mentioned that I was appearing before 
you on behalf of American's more than 100,000 team members. As CEO, 
that is a responsibility I treasure. My message to you today is 
actually theirs, so I'd like to take a moment to tell you about a 
couple of them.
    Kimberley Dorman is one of our amazing flight attendants, based at 
DFW. She had her first child right before COVID-19 took hold. Her 
husband, a veteran, is a self-employed real estate developer, so 
Kimberley carries the family on her health insurance plan. When faced 
with the possibility of furlough, Kimberley began to consider other 
options for insurance, but all were far more expensive and provided 
less coverage than her plan with American. It would have tipped her 
family into financial struggle. But instead, because of the PSP, 
Kimberley kept her job and her insurance, she was able to continue to 
provide for her family, and she returned to work from a leave of 
absence this spring.
    I met Brookelle Stockton on one of my flights to D.C. in the fall 
of 2020. (In fact, it's possible some of you may have met her during 
your travels, too.) Of the four flight attendants working that 
particular flight, three had received furlough notices, including 
Brookelle. While she did end up being furloughed when the PSP lapsed--a 
period of time she describes as heartbreaking--fortunately, we know 
that's not the end of the story. She held off on applying for 
unemployment as she held onto hope for an extension of the PSP, and I 
actually ran into Brookelle at our training center this spring as she 
prepared to come back to the line. It was special for both of us to 
experience that full-circle moment.
    These are just a couple of the American Airlines team members who 
have thanked me for fighting to save their jobs. On their behalf, I 
have the great honor of thanking you.
    So, thank you for your support of our team members and for all 
you've done to protect the vitality of the U.S. airline industry, 
especially during the pandemic.
    I look forward to taking your questions.

    The Chairwoman. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Parker. Mr. 
Kelly, welcome. Thank you for being here.

  STATEMENT OF GARY C. KELLY, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD AND CHIEF 
           EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

    Mr. Kelly. Thank you. Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member 
Wicker, and members of the Committee, good afternoon. My name 
is Gary Kelly, and I am very privileged to serve as the 
Chairman and CEO at Southwest Airlines, so thank you for 
inviting me to testify here on behalf of the more than 54,000 
Southwest employees who directly benefited from the Payroll 
Support Program. And I can sum up the PSP in two words, it 
worked.
    Our employees have endured unprecedented challenges over 
the last 2 years, from new Federal requirements to unruly 
passengers, but I couldn't be more proud of them for their 
resilience and their resolve. They are nothing short of heroic. 
And PSP secured their jobs and their pay and their benefits. So 
I want to start by expressing my heartfelt appreciation to you 
all and to Members of Congress, and certainly this committee.
    In a bipartisan fashion, Congress recognized the severity 
of the COVID-19 threat and heeded the call for swift, decisive 
action, passing the PSP within weeks. Despite this incredible 
achievement, no one could have predicted what happened in the 
months that followed. Multiple waves of COVID cases, new COVID-
19 variants, changes in Government policies, volatile demand 
for air travel, and record financial losses for every single 
airline.
    Even with the turbulence that was brought on by the global 
pandemic, your commitment to protecting the livelihoods of 
hundreds of thousands of airline workers never wavered. And 
most importantly, you saw the PSP as a successful program 
worthy of not one, but two extensions. And for that, on behalf 
of all Southwest Airlines, I am eternally grateful. At 
Southwest, we take pride in being a maverick, including being 
about as well prepared for this crisis as any company, let 
alone any airline, can be.
    And looking back at early 2020, we entered the pandemic in 
a strong financial position. We had over $5 billion in 
liquidity. We had very modest debt. We had record low financial 
leverage and a low cost structure. As the pandemic unfolded, we 
took aggressive and appropriate self-help measures to remain 
solvent, eliminating discretionary spending, right sizing our 
flight schedule, and cutting executive compensation.
    At the same time, Southwest has never achieved our low cost 
on the backs of our employees. We are 83 percent unionized. We 
offer industry leading retirement and health benefits. We are 
consistently ranked on Fortune's list of the world's most 
admired companies and Glassdoor's list of best places to work. 
And until 2020, our employees received profit sharing 
contributions each and every year since 1972, which is an 
unprecedented streak of profits of 47 years.
    So for Southwest, the source of our strength and success is 
our people, and they have always been my top priority, and my 
number one concern is our employees' health and job security. 
And funds received through the PSP were only used for 
qualifying employees' salaries, wages, and benefits. We did not 
cut pay rates. We did not cut hours. We did not cut benefits. 
We did not lay off. And we did not furlough.
    We actually have raised our employees pay. And my biggest 
source of pride is that Southwest has never had an involuntary 
layoff or furlough in our 50 year history. Southwest is also 
the only major airline to maintain service at every domestic 
airport that we serve before the pandemic. And moreover, in the 
last 22 months, we launched service to 18 new airports.
    It is also a testament to our people that we have been the 
best year to date DOT customer satisfaction ranking among 
marketing carriers and the highest net promoter score in the 
industry. By every measure, we lived up to the letter and the 
spirit of the PSP as Congress intended. Our operational 
performance during the week of Thanksgiving underscores our 
focus on reliability, and we knew the challenges of a busy 
holiday season and week might bring and implemented several 
enhancements to support our customers and our employees.
    And in a week where we served over two million customers, 
we operated nearly 24,000 flights with a 99.9 percent 
completion rate and only 12 cancellations. Our DOT on time 
performance for the week was 88.3 percent, and on November 28, 
2021's busiest travel day based on the TSA numbers, Southwest 
had the highest on-time performance in the industry.
    So in closing, I am extremely proud of our company's record 
of taking care of our employees and our customers and the 
communities that we serve. As I have said to many in the past 
year, it was messy going into this pandemic, it is going to be 
messy coming out. But for as long as the pandemic persists, we 
will continue to be cautious and focused on reliability.
    And I assure you that no matter what challenges presented 
to us next, taking care of our employees and our customers 
remain Southwest's primary goal. So thank you all again for 
your tremendous support during our darkest hours as a company 
and as an industry, and I look forward to answering your 
questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Kelly follows:]

 Prepared Statement of Gary C. Kelly, Chairman of the Board and Chief 
               Executive Officer, Southwest Airlines Co.
    Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and members of the 
Committee, good afternoon:

    My name is Gary Kelly, and I'm privileged to serve as Chairman and 
CEO at Southwest Airlines. Thank you for inviting me to testify on 
behalf of the 54,000 active Southwest Employees who directly benefitted 
from the Payroll Support Program (PSP). I can sum up the PSP in two 
words: IT WORKED. Our Employees have endured unprecedented challenges 
over the last two years--from new Federal requirements to unruly 
passengers--and I couldn't be more proud of them. Their resilience and 
resolve are nothing short of heroic. PSP secured their jobs, their pay, 
and their benefits.
                               Gratitude
    Let me begin by expressing my heartfelt appreciation to Congress 
and the leaders of this Committee. In March 2020, I joined my industry 
colleagues, as well as the Nation's airline union representatives, in 
urging Congress to act quickly by providing immediate liquidity to the 
airline industry. In a bipartisan fashion, Congress recognized the 
severity of the COVID19 threat and heeded the call for swift, decisive 
action, passing the PSP within weeks. Despite this incredible 
achievement, no one could have predicted what happened in the months 
that followed: multiple waves of rising cases, new COVID-19 variants, 
changes in government policies, volatile demand for air travel, and 
record financial losses for every airline. Even with the turbulence 
brought on by the global pandemic, your commitment to protecting the 
livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of airline workers never wavered. 
You understood the critical importance of our industry to the economy 
and the Nation's recovery. Most importantly, you saw the PSP as a 
successful program worthy of not one, but two extensions. For that, I'm 
eternally grateful.
                             Being Prepared
    At Southwest, we take pride in being a maverick, including being 
about as well-prepared for this crisis as any company, let alone any 
airline. Looking back at early 2020, we entered the pandemic in a very 
strong financial position--with $5 billion in liquidity, modest debt, 
low financial leverage, and a low-cost structure. By being financially 
conservative, we've always strived to be well-prepared for the 
unforeseen. Southwest is the only 1980s major carrier that has never 
filed for bankruptcy, even after 9/11 and the Great Recession. We 
responded to the pandemic with aggressive, appropriate self-help 
measures to keep the Company solvent: eliminating discretionary 
spending, right-sizing our flight schedule, and cutting executive 
compensation--including reducing my base salary. As the only airline 
with an all-investment-grade credit rating, Southwest could also access 
capital from the private markets. If the current demand environment 
holds, we should be able to pay off most of the debt we incurred during 
the pandemic within the next five years.
    At the same time, Southwest has never achieved low costs on the 
backs of our Employees. We're 83 percent unionized. We offer industry-
leading wages and great retirement and health care benefits. We're 
consistently ranked on Glassdoor's list of Best Places to Work and 
FORTUNE's list of the World's Most Admired Companies. And, until 2020, 
our Employees received profit-sharing contributions each and every year 
since 1972, an unprecedented profit streak of 47 years.
                          Putting People First
    For Southwest, the source of our strength and success is our 
People. As CEO, they've always been my top priority, and my number one 
concern is our Employees' health and job security. Funds received 
through each round of the PSP were only used for qualifying Employee 
salaries, wages, and benefits. We did not cut pay rates. We did not cut 
hours. We did not cut benefits. We did not layoff. We did not furlough. 
We actually raised our minimum pay to $15/hour effective August 1, 
2021. This represents a wage increase of 711 percent for about 7,000 
Employees. In fact, my biggest source of pride is that, as of today, 
Southwest has never had involuntary layoffs or furloughs in our 50-year 
history.
    Southwest is also the only major airline to maintain service at 
every domestic airport we served before the pandemic. Our commitment to 
bringing Customer-friendly policies and low fares to consumers does not 
end there. In the last 22 months, we launched service to 18 new 
airports. Consumers in these markets benefited from the ``Southwest 
Effect,'' a phenomenon observed by the U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT) in which our entry into a market drives 
competition up and fares down. We continue to provide outstanding 
hospitality. It's a testament to our People that we have the best year 
to date DOT Customer Satisfaction Ranking among Marketing Carriers and 
the highest Net Promoter Score in the industry. By every measure, we 
lived up to the letter and the spirit of the PSP as Congress intended.
                   Focus on Reliability & Resiliency
    Our operational performance during the week of Thanksgiving 
underscores our focus on reliability. We knew the challenges a busy 
holiday travel week might bring and implemented several enhancements to 
support our Customers and Employees. Southwest Employees executed those 
planning efforts with coordination and precision. In a week where we 
served over 2 million Customers, we operated nearly 24,000 flights with 
a 99.9 percent completion rate and only 12 cancellations. Our DOT on-
time performance for the week was 88.3 percent and on November 28--
2021's busiest travel day based on TSA throughput--Southwest had the 
highest on-time performance in the industry.
    In closing, our purpose at Southwest is to connect People to what 
is important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost 
air travel. After two difficult years, I'm so proud of our Company's 
record of taking care of our Employees, Customers, and the communities 
we serve. As I've said to many in the past year, it was messy going 
into this pandemic and it'll be messy coming out. And it has been, at 
times, when flight and passenger activities got ahead of our effective 
staffing. Yet we've made progress toward stabilizing our operations. 
Since the pandemic persists, we'll continue to be cautious and focused 
on reliability. I assure you that, no matter what challenge is 
presented to us next, taking good care of our Employees and Customers 
remains Southwest's primary goal.
    Thank you again for your tremendous support during our darkest hour 
as a Company and an industry, especially through the enactment of the 
Payroll Support Program. I look forward to answering your questions.

    The Chairwoman. Thank you, Mr. Kelly. Thank you so much for 
that testimony. We will now turn to Mr. Kirby. Thank you so 
much.

   STATEMENT OF SCOTT KIRBY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, UNITED 
                    AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC.

    Mr. Kirby. Good afternoon, Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member 
Wicker, and members of the Committee. I am pleased to be here 
today to discuss United Airlines' response to the COVID-19 
pandemic and the Payroll Support Programs' assistance to 
companies like United. On behalf of all the United employees 
and our industry, I would like to thank Chair Cantwell, Ranking 
Member Wicker, and all the members of this committee, and the 
Federal Government for your support during the most challenging 
time in our shared history.
    As I begin, I also want to publicly thank our 80,000 United 
employees who performed so admirably and worked so tirelessly 
throughout this pandemic to take care of our customers and each 
other. Our United team and the airports on board aircraft and 
all throughout our global network have been on the front lines 
of this crisis from day one and helped ensure anyone or 
anything, including medical equipment and vaccines, who needed 
to travel throughout the pandemic could do so safely.
    The COVID-19 pandemic is the most disruptive crisis in the 
history of commercial aviation, with both the devastating human 
and economic toll. The quick response by the Federal Government 
with the rapid implementation of the PSP prevented what would 
have been an unprecedented shutdown of air service that would 
have impacted the U.S. and world economy for years to come.
    The PSP allowed us to maintain operational consistency, 
avoiding the challenges that shutdowns, mass, involuntary 
layoffs, and furloughs would have created. United supplemented 
the Federal support with our own unprecedented cost cutting and 
fundraising efforts. PSP also gave us the time and the bridge 
to the private capital markets, where we raised an additional 
$23 billion in debt. At the same time, we were shoring up our 
finances, we were also taking early and aggressive action to 
mitigate the impact of the virus on our employees and our 
customers.
    We led on safety throughout the crisis. We were the first 
airline, among the first companies to require masks last April 
and this August, we implemented our vaccine requirement while 
ahead of any Government directive for the sole and simple 
reason that we believed it was the right thing to do for 
safety. Today, we remain the first and only airline to 
successfully complete a vaccination requirement for employees.
    We also leaned into our responsibility to keep the country 
and the world connected. We operated more than 130 repatriation 
flights, brought home more than 18,000 stranded Americans, 
booked close to 3,000 free flights for medical volunteers, and 
transported hundreds of millions of pounds of medical kits, 
PPE, and medical equipment. And United continues to fly 
vaccines around the world. We have already flown over 400 
million vaccines since they were first ready for distribution.
    Throughout the pandemic, United and many Members of 
Congress worked closely with our unions, and I want to 
recognize and thank the Air Line Pilots Association, the 
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the International 
Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the 
Association of Flight Attendants, and the Professional Airline 
Flight Control Association.
    The PSP not only kept the airline running, but it also kept 
the economy moving during a time of great uncertainty. As 
customers began to fly again, we took a gradual approach to 
building back our schedule. We knew it would be challenging to 
try to bring flights back all at once and too quickly, so we 
made a conscious decision to gradually add capacity over time.
    While this choice sacrifice short term profits, it allowed 
us to ensure a reliable service and to largely avoid any 
widespread operational impacts to our customers. But even in 
the depth of the crisis, we always kept an eye on the future 
for customers. We invested in technologies and enacted new 
policies to make travel easier and more enjoyable. We got rid 
of change fees forever for travel within the U.S.
    We are investing in features like large overhead bins, 
seatback entertainment, and fast Wi-Fi, and our mobile app was 
the first to let customers check their destinations travel 
requirements, schedule COVID-19 tests, and upload and validate 
vaccine records using artificial intelligence. From an 
employment perspective, we have already hired more than 5,000 
people this year into careers with high pay and benefits and 
expect to hire approximately 10,000 more next year.
    And for our communities, United is the leading global 
airline in the fight against climate change. We are leading in 
sustainable aviation fuels, electric aircraft, and hydrogen 
aircraft, just to name a few. While the COVID-19 pandemic has 
been the most disruptive global crisis in the history of 
aviation, United is emerging as a leader and is a better 
airline for our customers and employees.
    The Payroll Support Program was a vital aid when our 
industry and our employees needed it most. I appreciate the 
opportunity to appear before this committee and look forward to 
answering any questions you may have.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Kirby follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Scott Kirby, Chief Executive Officer, 
                     United Airlines Holdings, Inc.
    Good afternoon, Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and members 
of the Committee. I am pleased to be here today to discuss United 
Airlines' response to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the Payroll 
Support Program's assistance to companies like United. I would like to 
thank the members of this Committee, Congress, and the Federal 
government for helping our industry during one of the most challenging 
times in our shared history.
    I also must take a minute to acknowledge the 80,000 United 
employees around the world who have worked tirelessly throughout this 
crisis to take care of our customers and each other. Our employees in 
the airports and in the air have ensured our customers who had to 
travel throughout the pandemic could do so safely.
    The pandemic has been a once-in-a-generation crisis, and the scale 
of the human cost is staggering. More than 5 million people have lost 
their lives to the virus, and countless others have been affected in 
shared and deeply personal ways. It has been a trying time for all of 
us, and sadly United Airlines employees haven't been immune to the 
human toll of COVID-19. We mourn for all those we have lost and their 
families.
    The COVID-19 pandemic is the most disruptive global crisis in the 
history of commercial aviation. In addition to the devastating human 
toll, at the beginning of April 2020, we saw the sharpest, deepest drop 
in market demand on record. We cut our domestic and international 
schedules by 90 percent and were burning as much as $100 million per 
day.
    The only comparison to the COVID crisis is the attacks of September 
11--which resulted in the aviation industry's loss of a decade of job 
creation, productivity, investments, and technological advancements--
and it was clear early on that this pandemic would have a much deeper, 
longer-lasting impact on our industry without support.
    The quick response by the Federal government with the rapid 
implementation of the Payroll Support Program (PSP) prevented the type 
of losses the industry suffered in past major events. The PSP allowed 
us to maintain operational consistency, avoiding the challenges that 
mass involuntary layoffs and furloughs would have created. In addition, 
the PSP enabled us to maintain our workforce and protect the 
livelihoods of tens of thousands of United employees--keeping pilots 
and others current and at-the-ready to respond to a rebound in demand. 
The PSP also gave us the time and the bridge to capital markets where 
we raised $23 billion in debt and equity that were crucial to our 
survival and ability to support the great careers at United, contribute 
to the COVID response around the world, and be prepared to support the 
economic recovery now underway. Quite simply, the PSP saved the 
industry while giving us the flexibility to not only think about how 
best to chart our recovery, but also to make meaningful, fundamental 
changes within our company so we could emerge on the other side of the 
crisis as a better, stronger airline. And that is exactly what we are 
doing today.
    Importantly, we supplemented this Federal support with our own, 
unprecedented cost-cutting and fundraising efforts. We froze new 
hiring, suspended salary increases, cut costs across our operation, 
introduced new voluntary leave and separation programs, cut Officer 
salaries by 50 percent, cut CEO and President's base salaries by 100 
percent and used various assets, including our MileagePlus loyalty 
program and aircraft, as collateral to finance more than $23 billion in 
commercial debt. This is in addition to the $3.2 billion of PSP notes 
that were provided by the U.S. government. In addition, we raised $2.6 
billion in equity, issuing 76 million shares.
    Our recovery efforts started by taking early and aggressive action 
to mitigate the impact of the virus on our employees and our customers 
and as our industry always does, we put safety at the forefront. We 
were the first airline--and one of the first companies--to mandate 
masks for employees and the first to introduce customer COVID-19 
testing and contact tracing.
    We partnered with DARPA to study how effectively the unique airflow 
configuration on board an aircraft can prevent the spread of 
aerosolized particles among passengers and crew. And based on those 
results, we were the first and only airline to run our HEPA filtration 
systems during the entire boarding and deplaning process.
    We launched a program called United CleanPlusSM that 
delivered an industry-leading standard of cleanliness, including 
partnerships with Clorox and experts from the Cleveland Clinic. And we 
were the first major U.S. airline to ask all passengers to complete a 
health self-assessment during their check-in process based on 
recommendations from the Cleveland Clinic.
    Within our company, we have continually prioritized the safety of 
our employees and customers, including taking decisive action on mask 
and vaccine requirements. Some of the decisions were hard, but 
necessary. I personally sent letters to the families of every United 
employee who died from COVID-19. We must continue to do all we can to 
keep another United family from receiving that letter.
    We did all we could to keep our business running safely and 
consistently, and still, we would not be in the position we are today 
without the support of the United States government.
    One important step in maintaining our operational performance was 
close coordination with our unions, who stepped up to work on creative 
agreements to get us through the crisis, reduce the number of affected 
employees where possible, and set up the airline for a strong rebound. 
I want to recognize and thank our union partners, the Air Line Pilots 
Association (ALPA), International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), 
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), 
Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) and Professional Airline Flight 
Control Association (PAFCA) for understanding the enormity of the 
challenge we collectively faced, for keeping our employees engaged, and 
for working with us to prevent furlough.
Doing Our Part to Help Fight COVID-19
    United acted quickly not just to support our customers and 
employees, but also to do our part for the world. We are incredibly 
proud of the role that we played, which has brought us even closer to 
our mission of connecting and uniting people across the globe. We have 
been maintaining these vital air bridges and links between countries--
Australia, India and Brazil to name a few--throughout the crisis, 
because the pandemic really brought home how those connections are 
vital to develop shared understanding, which is necessary to solve 
problems and address conflict.
    To support the pandemic response, we activated our people and 
capabilities to operate more than 130 repatriation flights bringing 
home more than 18,000 Americans who were stranded abroad. We also 
booked nearly 3,000 free flights for medical professionals to support 
the COVID-19 response in New Jersey/New York and California. In the 
early days of the pandemic, it is safe to say, people who were flying 
were doing so because there was a critical need.
    Our work did not stop there. Through a combination of cargo-only 
and passenger flights, United transported more than 401 million pounds 
of freight, including 154 million pounds of vital shipments, such as 
medical kits, PPE, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment, and more 
than 3 million pounds of military mail and packages. And once the 
vaccines were ready for distribution, we sprang into action. United has 
flown approximately 400 million vaccines around the world, reaching 
many countries that were in desperate need of vaccines, including 
shipments to Guatemala and Ghana in just the last few weeks.
    Throughout the pandemic, United has been committed to providing our 
unique resources and relationships to assist in those areas hardest hit 
by COVID-19. In India specifically, we operated dozens of flights with 
the majority of cargo being humanitarian supplies, including PPE, 
medical devices, medications and oxygen.
Bouncing Back with Innovation at the Forefront
    While weathering the crisis and contributing to the humanitarian 
effort, United has also been focused on innovation and emerging from 
the pandemic as the world's best airline. PSP's support allowed us to 
keep thousands employed and help prevent a catastrophic impact to our 
company. This allowed us to take steps to change the airline for the 
better and to take a unique approach to rebuilding.
    After dramatically cutting our flight schedule at the start of the 
pandemic, we knew it would be challenging to bring flights all back at 
once, so we made the decision to gradually add flights over time. While 
this choice sacrificed short-term profits, it allowed us to ensure a 
reliable service and to largely avoid the widespread operational 
challenges experienced by other carriers. By being open, honest, and 
transparent with our workforce about our decision-making process, 
United was able to retain most of our workforce with thanks to our 
union partners.
    Even in the depths of the crisis, we continued to prepare for the 
recovery by investing in technologies and enacting new policies that 
help make travel easier and more enjoyable for customers. The United 
App and United.com have everything most travelers need to get ready, 
including verifying testing and vaccine records. Our Connection Saver 
Tool helps thousands of people make tight connections every day. And we 
have eliminated change fees forever for flights within the U.S., a 
policy that historically got in the way of delivering great service.
    As an airline, safety has always been our top priority, and we 
successfully implemented our vaccine requirements for our employees 
early and before there was a government directive. This issue is now 
largely behind us and we are able to focus on taking care of our 
customers, which is particularly important going into the winter season 
when weather complications and holiday travel can cause disruptions.
    By keeping our future in view since the start of the crisis, we've 
been able to bounce back better than we could have anticipated.
Envisioning a More Resilient Future
    It is important to remember the shocking scale of this pandemic on 
the globe and its deep effect on our industry. We are not completely 
out of the woods, and the emergence of the Omicron variant in recent 
weeks is a stark reminder of that. Nevertheless, we are moving forward 
toward a more resilient future, ensuring we continue to do right by our 
customers, employees, and investors. Despite sizeable financial 
obligations coming out of the pandemic, we are continuing to invest in 
advancing environmental sustainability; diversity, equity, improving 
the customer experience; and creating lasting and rewarding careers for 
our growing and diverse workforce; and job creation.
    This summer, we announced a major purchase agreement that will have 
long-term positive economic impacts. United will order 270 brand new 
aircraft--the largest purchase agreement in our history and the largest 
by a single carrier in a decade. With this order, combined with our 
current orders, we will be adding 500 new airplanes to our fleet in the 
next few years. Aircraft orders, especially at this scale, directly 
fuel job creation, consumer spending, taxes, and many other drivers of 
economic growth.
    Replacing smaller, older aircraft also allows us to make an 
expected 11 percent improvement in fuel efficiency and reduce carbon 
emissions per seat by 17-20 percent, compared to older planes.
    Our efforts will yield impressive job creation. Through 2026, we 
expect to create 25,000 new careers, totaling thousands of openings at 
each of our seven domestic hubs. These union jobs have compensation 
above the Federal minimum wage and come with company-sponsored medical 
coverage, company-funded retirement programs, paid sick leave and 
vacation, and flight benefits. We are not interested in offering just a 
job. We want to provide a rewarding, long-term career--69 percent of 
the senior leaders I work with every day came up through the ranks in 
jobs like these.
    In addition to these economic contributions, we are proud of our 
actions and transparency on diversity, equity, and inclusion. United 
firmly believes that DEI is key to a strong company culture and 
critical competitive advantage. Over the past decade, our focus has 
evolved from excellence in employee engagement and talent programs to a 
strategic approach that embeds DEI throughout our business and impacts 
the communities where we work, live and fly.
    One development we are really excited about is the creation of our 
United Aviate Academy, a state-of-the-art flight-training program at 
Phoenix Goodyear Airport. We are seeking to train 5,000 pilots by the 
end of the decade, with the goal that half of the students will be 
women and people of color, all while maintaining our incredibly high 
training standards. The inaugural class, which began just last week, is 
80 percent women and people of color.
    I can also say, proudly, that United has achieved, and is committed 
to maintaining, near-perfect pay equity for employees of all genders 
and races performing comparable work across our U.S. operations.
    Finally, we're taking bold action to help combat climate change by 
embracing a new goal to be 100 percent green by 2050, reducing our 
greenhouse gas emissions by 100 percent. We are making significant 
investments to reach this goal and, importantly, to reach our goal 
without the use of traditional carbon offsets.
    Our industry collaborations are cutting-edge and part of the reason 
we were named 2021 Eco-Airline of the Year by Air Transport World 
magazine. In September, we agreed to invest in and purchase 1.5 billion 
gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Alder Fuels, 
representing the largest publicly announced SAF agreement in aviation 
history. United is the world leader in the usage and support for the 
development of SAF, already having agreements or commitments to 
purchase nearly twice as much SAF as the known agreements of all other 
global airlines combined. Just two weeks ago, we operated the first 
ever airline flight with passengers to fly on 100 percent SAF.
    We've also launched the first-of-its-kind Eco-Skies Alliance, a 
group of global corporations--including DHL Global Forwarding, HP, Inc. 
and Nike--contributing funds to purchase SAF to reduce their aviation-
related impact on the environment.
    All of these efforts are part of our ambition to do the right thing 
for the environment, our customers and our people.
Conclusion
    The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most disruptive global crisis in 
the history of aviation. Thanks to the support of the U.S. government, 
the resilience of our teams, and the loyalty of our customers, United 
will emerge a stronger, better company. The Payroll Support Program was 
a vital aid when our industry most needed it, and enabled us to make 
the ground-breaking, innovative investments and commitments that I've 
described to you today.
    I appreciate the opportunity to appear before this Committee and 
look forward to answering any questions you may have.

    The Chairwoman. Thank you, Mr. Kirby. Thank you very much 
for being here. Mr. Laughter.

STATEMENT OF JOHN LAUGHTER, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF 
                 OF OPERATIONS, DELTA AIR LINES

    Mr. Laughter. Good afternoon, Chair Cantwell, Ranking 
Member Wicker, and distinguished members of the Committee. 
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and 
discuss the status of the U.S. airline industry during the 
COVID-19 pandemic. My name is John Laughter and I have the 
privilege of serving as Delta's Executive Vice President and 
Chief of Operations.
    I have been with Delta for over 28 years, serving in 
several leadership positions. I look forward to sharing the 
measures Delta has taken to address the crisis by protecting 
the health of our customers and the safety and jobs of our 
people who have done an outstanding job throughout the 
pandemic. I also look forward to discussing our compliance with 
the Payroll Support Programs.
    Currently, I am responsible for ensuring that we provide 
safe, reliable industry leading operations across the globe. I 
directly oversee Delta's global flying operations, maintenance 
services, and safety and security groups, over 22,000 Delta 
professionals. Delta and all of its employees are extremely 
grateful to this committee and the rest of the U.S. Congress 
for your support throughout the pandemic. The pandemic has 
reminded us all of the importance of cooperation and taking 
care of one another in our community.
    I am so proud of how the Delta team pulled together for 
each other and for our customers during this time. In the early 
days of the pandemic, demand for air travel evaporated by 
nearly 95 percent, forcing Delta to take decisive action to 
preserve jobs without compromising on employee and customer 
safety. We parked or retired more than 650 aircraft and 
consolidated facilities at airports nationwide.
    We cut executive compensation and more than 40,000 
employees volunteered for unpaid leaves of absences. The Delta 
community truly came together during an extraordinarily 
stressful and difficult time. Delta people led the way in 
demonstrating our commitment to health and safety. We moved 
quickly at the onset of the pandemic to transform the industry 
standard of cleanliness to ensure a safe and comfortable travel 
experience for our customers and employees.
    In the span of a few months, we implemented a rigorous 
cleaning regimen onboard our aircraft and in all of our 
facilities, abroad employee COVID testing program, the 
industry's first mask requirement, contact tracing on 
international flights, and other pandemic protocols that have 
protected the safety of our customers and employees. In the 
past year, we spent over $25 million to administer more than 
151,000 vaccines, not only to Delta people, but to friends, 
families, and members of the Georgia community and across the 
country.
    As we continue to face challenges presented by COVID, we 
are committed to maintaining our tradition of excellent 
customer service. Delta has long run the most reliable 
operation in the world, and we have maintained that standard in 
the recovery. And I would like to be clear on this point, this 
year we are exceeding our operational performance compared to 
2019 and lead the industry in on time performance and 
completion factor. We are in the process of hiring thousands of 
new Delta people and regrowing our network in a disciplined way 
that allows us to deliver on our commitments to our people and 
our customers.
    The unmatched level of service culminated in the best 
customer feedback scores we have ever received, earning us the 
number one spot on the 2021 J.D. Power North American Airlines 
satisfaction study. I would like to once again thank Congress 
for the invaluable support the Payroll Support Program was to 
us.
    To ensure that we are in full compliance with the terms of 
the PSP agreements, Delta established the PSP in CARES Act 
Compliant Steering Committee and CARES Act Working Group. These 
groups made up of our law compliance, H.R., and finance teams 
focused on adhering the PSP requirements to ensure these 
critical funds were used only for eligible employee's wages, 
salaries, and benefits could be properly accounted for and 
continue to ensure strict compliance with ongoing program 
restrictions.
    Together with the extraordinary efforts of our employees, 
these PSP funds helped us save jobs. As we recover from the 
pandemic, we will continue to keep the health and safety of our 
customers and employees our top priority.
    Thank you again for your support of the airline industry. 
And more importantly, thank you for your support of our people. 
I look forward to answering your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Laughter follows:]

     Prepared Statement of John Laughter, Executive Vice President 
                and Chief of Operations, Delta Air Lines
The Status of Delta Air Lines in 2021
Introduction
    Good afternoon, Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and 
distinguished Members of the Committee:

    Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today regarding 
the status of Delta's workforce, operations, and management of Federal 
funding as we continue to work through the COVID-19 (COVID) pandemic.
    My name is John Laughter, and I have the privilege of serving as 
Delta's Executive Vice President & Chief of Operations. I am 
responsible for ensuring that Delta provides industry-leading, safe, 
and reliable operations across the globe. I directly oversee Delta's 
global flying operations, maintenance services, safety, and security 
groups--over 22,000 Delta employees that include pilots, mechanics, 
dispatchers, and aviation professionals who manage pilot staffing, 
training and standards, technical support, and regulatory compliance. 
In my 28+ years with Delta I have served as the Senior Vice President 
(SVP) of Flight Operations; SVP of Corporate Safety, Security and 
Compliance; and held various leadership positions in Technical 
Operations.
    Delta and all its employees are extremely grateful to this 
committee and the rest of the U.S. Congress for your support throughout 
the pandemic. The CARES Act and subsequent relief packages included 
vital support for Delta's employees through the Payroll Support Program 
(PSP). COVID has caused an unprecedented public health and economic 
crisis. As the recently discovered Omicron variant has demonstrated, we 
continue to reckon with challenges caused by the pandemic, and we 
appreciate the opportunity to engage with you on these issues.
    Today, as always, we remain focused on protecting the health and 
safety of our employees and customers, providing the best possible 
service, and safeguarding Delta jobs. At the onset of the COVID 
pandemic Delta moved quickly to transform the industry standard of 
cleanliness to ensure a safe and comfortable travel experience for our 
customers and employees--all while maintaining our industry-leading 
reliability and customer experience--and we continue to do so.
How COVID-19 Has Impacted Delta Air Lines
    The pandemic continues to present an extraordinary challenge to 
Delta and other airlines. At the beginning of the crisis, travel 
restrictions and stay-at-home orders were effective at slowing the 
spread of the virus, but severely impacted demand for travel. In 2020, 
passenger volumes dropped by as much as 95 percent by the end of March, 
resulting in a pre-tax loss of $12.4 billion for Delta over the entire 
year, the largest loss in our history \1\. While we have seen travel 
stabilize across the U.S., the Omicron variant of COVID has 
demonstrated the ongoing volatility of the pandemic. Countries that 
have recently lifted travel bans are reevaluating policies, impacting 
the recent increased demand for international travel.
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    \1\ DAL 12.31.2020 10K (q4cdn.com)
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Delta Air Lines Responds to COVID-19
Delta Culture and Servant Leadership Rise to the Challenge
    In the early days of the pandemic, revenue and demand quickly 
evaporated, forcing Delta to take decisive action to preserve jobs by 
reducing our cost base without compromising employee and customer 
safety. We parked or retired more than 650 aircraft and consolidated 
facilities at airports nationwide. In March of 2020, our CEO announced 
he would forgo his salary and the salaries of Delta officers were 
reduced by 50 percent. To avoid involuntary layoffs, we offered 
voluntary early retirement and departure packages and voluntary unpaid 
leaves of absence. I am proud of the way the Delta community came 
together during an extraordinarily stressful and difficult time:

   More than 40,000 employees volunteered for short-and long-
        term unpaid leaves of absence at some point in 2020, and more 
        than 17,000 Delta people volunteered to take early retirement 
        or departure packages--all of which enabled us to avoid U.S. 
        furloughs and save countless Delta jobs.

   As the operation slowed, most of our merit and ground-based 
        frontline employees worked under reduced schedules for much of 
        the year, providing vital savings that reduced our daily cash 
        burn rate and positioning us for recovery.

   Our flight attendants, pilots, reservations agents, and 
        other front-line teams provided an unmatched level of service 
        that resulted in the best customer feedback scores Delta has 
        ever received--earning Delta the No. 1 spot on the 2021 J.D. 
        Power 2021 North America Airline Satisfaction Study.\2\
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    \2\ 2021 North America Airline Satisfaction Study | J.D. Power 
(jdpower.com)

    These measures, taken together, were vital to protecting Delta's 
future during the early months of the pandemic as we operated a minimal 
schedule to provide essential services for those who traveled.
    This comprehensive approach is part of Delta's longstanding 
commitment to protect our people, customers, and the communities in 
which we live, work, and serve. It is also reflective of our culture of 
sharing sacrifices during difficult times, as well as sharing the 
benefits of success during good times. As a result of our employees' 
efforts and the PSP, we are proud that no U.S. Delta employee was 
involuntarily furloughed due to the financial and operational impacts 
of the pandemic.
Measures to Prevent COVID-19 Exposure
    Delta has made the health and safety of our people and customers 
our No. 1 priority since the start of the pandemic--leading the 
industry with policies including: establishing rigorous cleaning and 
safety protocols on the ground and in the air; blocking of middle seats 
through April 30, 2021; facilitating contact tracing for inbound 
international passengers; and implementing mask requirements for all 
passengers.
    Early in the onset of the pandemic, we partnered with the world-
renowned Mayo Clinic, whose experts advised us on employee testing, 
strategies for cleanliness, and operational tactics to reduce the 
transmission of the virus. These efforts led to the establishment of 
our Global Cleanliness Division, which sets a new standard of 
cleanliness for our customers, known as the Delta 
CareStandardSM. In a first for the U.S. airline industry, we 
hired Mayo Clinic's Dr. Henry Ting as our Chief Health Officer to 
oversee our efforts and ensure they are based on rigorous scientific 
research. Dr. Ting is also responsible for leading our efforts to 
reimagine Delta's efforts to ensure the physical and mental health and 
well-being of our employees.
    Operationally, we created a dedicated team of more than 100 Clean 
Ambassadors to oversee our Global Cleanliness Division's goal of 
increasing the number of cleaning crews and implementing the DeltaCare 
Standard at more than fifty airports.\3\ We also partnered with the 
makers of Lysol and Purell to ensure each flight complies with our 
extensive preflight cleaning checklist and that all our planes include 
hand sanitizer stations and provisional Purell disinfecting wipes for 
each passenger. Additionally, we continue to electrostatically spray 
our aircraft interiors with high-grade disinfectant and use HEPA air 
filters to remove 99.99 percent of airborne particles on-board.
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    \3\ Delta deploys dedicated cleanliness 'eyes and ears' at U.S. 
airports | Delta News Hub
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Vaccines
    As part of our broader efforts to protect our customers and our 
employees, Delta partnered with Georgia to host the state's largest 
COVID vaccination site to support the state's vaccination program. Over 
117,000 vaccines were administered at the site, located at Delta's 
headquarters. Overall, Delta has spent more than $25 million to promote 
and administer a total of 151,000 vaccines to Delta employees and 
members of the public. We continue to offer COVID testing and 
vaccinations to our U.S.-based employees, free of charge. These efforts 
allowed the company to fully reopen our headquarters in June and have 
resulted in more than 90 percent of our employees being vaccinated.
    Delta was also in a unique position to distribute the COVID vaccine 
on a global scale thanks to our extensive network, unmatched 
international airline partnerships, and proven ability to safely and 
effectively transport vaccines. As the first U.S. passenger airline to 
receive IATA's Center of Excellence for Independent Validators Pharma 
Logistics Certification at its Atlanta hub and headquarters, our full-
service pharma capabilities included temperature-controlled warehouses, 
and all COVID vaccine shipments were transported with the highest 
priority and monitored throughout their journey by our unique Vaccine 
Watch Tower. Shipments occurred daily throughout the U.S. with 100 
percent reliability. Our shared values of honesty, perseverance, and 
service to each other, our customers, and our communities have allowed 
us to safeguard Delta's future in this unprecedented time while helping 
others around the globe.
Delta's Collaboration with The Federal Government
Payroll Support Program
    The PSP enabled the airline industry to preserve tens of thousands 
of jobs that would otherwise have been lost. Delta's people, our 
families, and I cannot thank Congress enough for this support.
    Delta has implemented several measures to ensure we are in full 
compliance with the terms of the PSP agreements. We established a PSP & 
CARES Act Compliance Program Executive Steering Committee and CARES Act 
Working Group led by the Ethics & Compliance team in the Law 
Department. The Working Group and Steering Committee are both cross-
functional groups that bring together key stakeholders with 
responsibility for ensuring Delta complies with the requirements of 
this important Federal program. The Ethics & Compliance team structured 
the compliance program framework around the PSP obligations and 
restrictions applicable to Delta and our wholly owned subsidiaries. The 
team worked with key stakeholders to ensure appropriate processes and 
controls were put in place. The compliance program includes the 
following workforce-focused measures: i) tracking how Delta uses the 
PSP funds to ensure they go exclusively to payment of Wages, Salaries, 
and Benefits of CARES-eligible employees; ii) review of any involuntary 
terminations to ensure they constitute permitted terminations (such as 
terminations for cause); iii) monitoring reductions of pay rates and 
benefits for compliance with PSP requirements; and iv) review of highly 
compensated employees subject to Total Compensation restrictions. Early 
in the pandemic--and prior to the establishment of the Federal PSP 
program--we announced a goal to avoid furloughs entirely, a key goal of 
the PSP program. Thanks to the PSP support, our employees' 
extraordinary efforts, and Delta's collaborative culture, we were able 
to achieve this goal, despite the unprecedented economic impact of the 
pandemic.
    While the CARES Act emergency relief for airline employees was 
welcome assistance, those funds alone were not nearly enough to sustain 
our business through the pandemic. As noted previously, demand for 
flights dropped by 95 percent over the course of a few weeks in March 
of 2020. As a result, Delta had a cash burn rate of $90 million each 
day, which resulted in our 2020 operating revenue dropping nearly $30 
billion compared to 2019. Consequently, even with the significant 
relief offered through the CARES Act and subsequent measures, it was 
still necessary--and expected--for Delta to take additional measures to 
reduce costs and shrink its footprint. The incredible efforts of the 
Delta team and support through PSP resulted in an amazing $10.8 billion 
reduction in operating expenses. PSP funding alone was simply not 
sufficient for Delta to maintain the scale and tempo of its pre-
pandemic operations. Again, Delta is so proud that together with PSP 
and Delta workforce efforts, we came together to be sure not a single 
employee faced an involuntary furlough.
Delta Air Lines' Work with U.S. Agencies
    Delta worked closely with Federal agencies on several pandemic 
efforts. Developing face mask requirements was a key measure to limit 
the early spread of COVID. Delta worked closely with DOT to ensure the 
process worked for all passengers, including an exemption to facilitate 
travel by persons with disabilities that prevent them from wearing a 
mask. The process Delta developed was the basis of guidance the DOT 
subsequently issued to ensure all airlines are appropriately 
accommodating persons with disabilities.
    Delta also worked with Federal agencies to implement contact 
tracing for international travel. In December of 2020, Delta became the 
first U.S. airline to partner with the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 
establish a voluntary contact tracing program for customers traveling 
to the U.S. from an international location, adding one more important 
layer to our overarching efforts to ensure health and safety throughout 
the travel experience.
    Finally, Delta worked closely with regulators to meet governmental 
requirements ensuring service continued to smaller communities while 
adjusting to new demand. For example, the CARES Act, and subsequent 
relief bills, included language to ensure that essential travel would 
continue uninterrupted. Delta was able to work with DOT to maintain 
scheduled air transportation deemed necessary by DOT.
New Challenges Created by The Return to Air Travel
Returning to Travel
    Delta has been optimistic that travel would resume, but we still do 
not know when it will return to pre-pandemic levels. As travel demand 
begins to accelerate, and countries begin to reopen, we are taking the 
necessary steps to restore our capacity in a disciplined, thoughtful 
manner. We recently enjoyed a successful Thanksgiving, helping 3.6 
million Delta customers travel from November 21 through 28, with more 
than 534,000 passengers transported on November 28 alone. Of the more 
than 32,000 flights Delta operated, only 16 were canceled.\4\
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    \4\ Delta caps smooth holiday week with record-setting Sunday | 
Delta News Hub
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    However, we expect, and are prepared for, an uneven, choppy 
recovery even as the virus is being contained. While domestic travel is 
improving to encouraging levels, it is still significantly below 2019 
levels. The Omicron variant has created further uncertainty, and there 
is no clear consensus on when business and international travel will 
return. As travel demand begins to accelerate and countries begin to 
reopen, Delta is committed to restoring our capacity while ensuring the 
safety of our employees and customers.
Working Towards the Future of Travel
    Delta is working quickly to increase staffing in Reservations and 
Customer Care, Airport Customer Service, Cargo, Flight Operations, and 
Technical Operations in support of customers' return to travel. The 
Reservations and Care team has hired 1,400 specialists who have been 
trained to address long customer support wait times during the 
pandemic. Along with this, we are hiring more than 6,100 Airport 
Customer Service Agents and more than 600 pilots. In total, we have 
hired more than 8,700 people across the business to support the return 
to travel in 2021. Delta also continues to look for ways to simplify 
the travel experience and help customers navigate travel. We are 
improving the Fly Delta app and delta.com to make quick changes easier 
without waiting in line at the airport or calling Delta directly. We 
have also extended the time-frame customers traveling in Basic Economy 
can make changes to their flights for travel occurring through December 
31, 2021. (Basic Economy fares are typically nonchangeable and non-
refundable).
Delta Remains the Most Reliable Major Airline
    A positive customer experience is critical to Delta's success--
customer loyalty is good for business, and that begins with ensuring we 
do our best for each customer. During the pandemic, when so many 
customers were changing their travel plans, Delta continued to honor 
valid refund requests when we cancelled a flight or made a significant 
schedule change. Delta approved over 7.3 million valid refund requests 
and issued more than $3 billion in customer refunds between March 2020 
and March 2021. We also provided travel credits to passengers with 
Basic Economy fares, which is not typically permitted. Further, Delta's 
travel credit extension allows for unmatched flexibility through 
December 31, 2022, for all tickets purchased or expiring in 2020 and 
2021.
    While we continue to face challenges, we are committed to 
addressing them and maintaining our tradition of high-quality service. 
Delta has long delivered the most reliable airline service in the 
world, and we have maintained that standard in the recovery. DOT data 
demonstrates Delta continues to run an industry-leading operation--
Delta ranked No. 1 among our competitive set on key operating metrics, 
including completion factor and on time performance from January-
September 2021 (see the addendum below). Our internal data indicates we 
continue to lead our peers through November.
    Thank you again for your support of the airline industry which is 
vital to our Nation's economy and national security. I look forward to 
answering your questions.
Addendum
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    The Chairwoman. Thank you so much for being here. And last 
but certainly not least, Ms. Nelson, thank you for your voice 
in all of this. It has been a very important one. Welcome.

STATEMENT OF SARA NELSON, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION 
               OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS-CWA, AFL-CIO

    Ms. Nelson. Thank you so much, Chair Cantwell, Ranking 
Member Wicker, members of the Committee. I am a twenty-five 
year union flight attendant, and just five years into my 
career, I witnessed personal and national tragedy with the 
events of September 11, 2001.
    As a Boston based flight attendant, I lost nine friends on 
Flight 175, the day aviation in our country came to a total 
stop. Within weeks, half of my flight attendant base was 
furloughed. The Federal Government response was a $5 billion 
compensation for direct losses incurred across the whole 
industry as a result of the ground stop ordered by the 
Government, and I am quoting from the Air Transportation 
Stabilization Act of 2001.
    It also included a loan guarantee program that the White 
House denied for United Airlines, even after employees agreed 
to significant concessions as a part of the condition of the 
loan. The result of insufficient action from the Government was 
a string of bankruptcies across the industry. We were the 
bailout.
    Our jobs were cut, our pensions were gutted. Those who 
remained shouldered massive pay cuts and many more hours on the 
job. Wall Street was ecstatic with the enormous cuts to labor 
costs. Workers were devastated. Consumers eventually felt the 
hit too as capacity was cut, seat size shrunk, and pricing 
became segmented with all kinds of fees.
    There was no hiring for a long time, but the diminished 
jobs later made it hard to attract pilots, mechanics, and other 
aviation careers. So when air travel demand dropped overnight 
in March 2020, we refused to follow the old blank check for 
corporations bailout playbook, especially for airlines. We 
designed what we could later--what would later be called the 
Payroll Support Program and took it to Chairman Peter DeFazio 
in the House.
    When the airlines asked him for help, he demanded that they 
talk to labor first, and that is what they did. American CEO 
Doug Parker called me on March 18, and I went to A4A 
headquarters where all of the CEOs were camped out and 
frustrated with the response from the days of meetings on the 
Hill. I was honest with them. I said the public is mad at you 
and feeling the sting of inequality on our planes. You are not 
going to get anything on your own. But if you work with labor 
and support our Workers First program, we can save the 
industry.
    We didn't agree on every provision that night, but the 
basic terms of the program were set and the next day we started 
working together to get it done. Senator Cantwell and Senator 
Wicker, with your leadership, I cannot thank you enough. In 
less than a week, the PSP program became a part of the CARES 
Act, and our jobs were saved. I have to recognize the 
outstanding leadership of Leader Schumer as well. We kept our 
health care, our retirement, and kept paying taxes. We didn't 
stress unemployment lines or need coverage for costly COVID 
benefits.
    The Workers First Relief Program saved millions of 
ancillary jobs connected to the industry and made it possible 
to restart our economy. Consumers haven't faced inflation in 
the cost of airline tickets because we were positioned to meet 
demand and companies were required to use the funds for 
payroll. The program helped workers, helped airlines, and 
helped consumers while capping executive pay, you are welcome, 
guys, and banning stock buybacks and dividends.
    For the first time in American history, a relief program 
told companies exactly how they had to apply the relief, the 
required service they must maintain for the country, and 
ensured Federal dollars got directly to the people and to the 
taxpayers.
    Some have questioned the use of the relief dollars in the 
wake of operational meltdowns in late summer and fall. This 
wasn't related to PSP. It was the result of first the lapse in 
PSP funding from October 1, 2020, to December 28, 2020, as we 
warned would happen due to the backlog in retraining, 
certification, and security credentials that are needed, and 
airlines planned operation based on pre-pandemic overtime 
hours, but workers were no longer willing to pick up voluntary 
overtime at the same rate because of combative passengers and 
COVID concerns.
    But recognizing these issues, unions negotiated with 
management before Thanksgiving to put in place and financial 
incentives for crew to pick up time, and it worked. Airline 
performance was off the charts over the Thanksgiving holiday 
travel week.
    PSP made it possible to meet demand. And we are not a 
bailout. But lately we have been punching bags. Flight 
attendants and aviation workers are saying, please make it 
stop. My written testimony provides a series of recommendations 
to address this, starting with clear communication and swift 
consequences for violent offenders.
    I would especially like to call your attention to the U.S. 
Attorney General's memorandum calling for an interagency 
coordination to address criminal conduct on commercial flights. 
We urge the Department of Justice to ensure arrest and 
prosecution of disruptive passengers on the plane and in the 
airport. Failing to ensure consequences for passengers who 
prevent passenger service agents from doing their jobs by 
assaulting, intimidating, or threatening them on the ground 
only increases the likelihood of problems in the air too.
    This pandemic has been brutal, and we are not through it 
yet, but no one should question the effectiveness of the 
Aviation Payroll Support Program. It was the most transparent 
program in all of COVID relief. It is being declared the best 
relief program put in place anywhere around the world and 
should be the model for future relief in all industries.
    PSP not only addressed the crisis and made it possible for 
us to ensure we lose no time in getting back to the urgent 
issues we face prior to the pandemic, safety, security, worker 
and consumer rights, improving aviation jobs, diversity and 
inclusion, sustainability, implementing next gen technology, 
and so much more.
    We are so grateful for the bipartisan efforts of this 
committee to enact PSP. It worked. Thank you for your continued 
oversight.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Nelson follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Sara Nelson, International President, 
             Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO
Introduction
    Thank you Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker and members of the 
committee for convening this hearing on oversight of the airline 
industry during the longest sustained and biggest crisis in the history 
of our industry.
    My name is Sara Nelson. I am a twenty-five year union Flight 
Attendant and president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, 
AFL-CIO (AFA), representing Flight Attendants at 17 airlines across the 
industry. We also coordinate closely with our partner union the 
Communications Workers of America, the Association of Professional 
Flight Attendants and all of the transportation union affiliates of the 
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO.
    We are grateful for the opportunity to testify about the Payroll 
Support Program (PSP), a program that was built by, and for workers--
with controls on airline management. It is important to hear from Labor 
because this program was designed for workers and our communities. 
Creating a #WorkersFirst relief program avoided putting more strain on 
safety net programs, provided stability for millions of workers, saved 
millions of ancillary jobs connected to the industry, and made it 
possible to restart our economy. Consumers haven't faced inflation in 
the cost of airline tickets because we were positioned to meet demand 
and companies were required to use the funds for payroll. They didn't 
have discretion to divert the funds to other illusory costs and then 
gouge consumers while blaming inflation. The program helped workers, 
helped the airlines, and helped consumers.
    For the first time in American history a relief program told 
companies exactly how they had to apply the relief, the required 
service they must maintain for the country, and ensured Federal dollars 
couldn't benefit executive compensation or rewards for Wall Street. We 
do not expect executives to talk about the benefits of capping their 
pay or banning stock buybacks and dividends. We do not expect 
executives to cheer the fact that inflation hasn't touched airline 
tickets and to the contrary ticket prices have dropped. Their investors 
don't want to hear any of this news that benefits workers, consumers, 
and our economy overall through a program that was built from the 
ground up. We are here to tell that story and applaud the bipartisan 
efforts to enact a relief plan with immediate and long-term returns to 
the public.
    Some have questioned the use of the relief dollars in the wake of 
some operational meltdowns in late summer and fall. Staffing is above 
pre-pandemic levels if compared to the number of flight hours airlines 
are flying. But aviation workers are not as willing to pick up overtime 
due to the combative passengers and concerns around COVID. American 
worker productivity was higher than any developed country in the pre-
pandemic world. This is also true in aviation, but it is not 
sustainable anywhere. Earlier airline operational meltdowns were the 
result of:

  1.  The lapse in PSP funding from October 1, 2020-December 28, 2020, 
        as we warned would happen due to a backlog in retraining, 
        certification, and security credentials, and

  2.  Airlines planned operations based on pre-pandemic overtime hours, 
        but workers were no longer willing to pick up overtime at the 
        same rate because of the conditions at work.

    Recognizing these issues, unions negotiated with management to put 
in place financial incentives to pick up time. It worked. Airline 
performance was off the charts over the Thanksgiving holiday travel 
week. There was no operational meltdown. PSP made it possible to meet 
demand.
    Without PSP, many airlines would have liquidated in the midst of a 
97 percent drop in demand that happened nearly overnight. It is 
important to remember the conditions our Nation faced in March 2020 and 
the sustained harm affecting aviation around the world throughout the 
rest of 2020 and the first half of 2021. PSP made it possible to keep 
air transport infrastructure intact, invest in safety protocols, adjust 
company size to current realities through voluntary programs rather 
than forced layoffs, and reunite family and friends as the people were 
able to access the vaccine and spend on travel once again.
We Couldn't Allow a Repeat of the Fallout from 9/11
    ``Hold all other communications on pay cuts, base closures, and 
previously announced furloughs. United just called me. They're 
furloughing another 2,500 Flight Attendants. We need to deal with that 
first.''
    I'll never forget that call. It was 2003, and our union was six 
months into a 38-month bankruptcy at United Airlines that followed 
September 11th.
    Nearly one in three United employees--30,000 all told--lost our 
jobs during that bankruptcy. Our pension was gutted. And those who 
remained took two massive pay cuts. When United came out of bankruptcy, 
nearly 45 percent of the savings the corporation showed Wall Street 
came off the backs of workers.
    Wall Street was ecstatic. Workers were devastated.
    That time was the formative experience in my career. And that's why 
our union worked with urgency to craft a relief plan that ultimately 
became the Payroll Support Program.
    We refused to follow the old ``blank check for corporations'' 
bailout playbook, especially for airlines. Our union had spent recent 
years protesting stock buybacks that pay out Wall Street and top 
executives while our staffing levels were cut to minimums and we had to 
work more just to make ends meet. Twenty years after the events of 
September 11, 2001, we were still feeling the effects of austerity and 
cost cutting while Wall Street had become more emboldened to take the 
profits made from our hard work. Prior to the pandemic inequality was 
felt in our paychecks, quality of life, and the configuration of the 
seats and service on our planes. Consumers experienced these cuts too 
along with all kinds of ancillary fees. Austerity also meant job loss 
and years of no hiring. Initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion 
suffered at the same rate that mature workers felt the sting of 25, 30, 
and 35 years on Reserve status or little ability to control our 
schedules.
    I know from personal experience: the people who benefit if airlines 
go under are corporate executives, bankruptcy lawyers, and corporate 
management consultants who under corporate bankruptcy law get to walk 
away with hundreds of millions in bonuses.
    We knew it would be immediate devastation for two million aviation 
workers if we couldn't get relief, but there was no way we were going 
to agree to a bailout for airlines. That's why our program demanded the 
requirements of no involuntary furloughs, no cuts to hourly rates of 
pay, continued service to all of our communities and a ban on stock 
buybacks and dividends along with caps on the executive compensation 
even after the relief period was complete.
Lessons from this Crisis
    While we believe PSP was the most successful program in all of 
COVID relief, we also know where it could have been more clear to 
protect workers. All workers lost pay during COVID because overtime 
hours were not protected. However, the program was intended to keep 
workers employed at a regular full time rate. While the law explicitly 
protected hourly rate of pay, it did not spell out a definition of full 
time work. In most cases, this rate is defined in the union contracts 
that protect 80 percent of the airline workers. However, Delta Air 
Lines unilaterally cut hours for non-union workers to stretch PSP 
dollars further.\1\ We believe this to be a violation of the PSP, but 
it is certainly an instruction for any future relief program intended 
to protect jobs.
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    \1\ https://www.afacwa.org/
letter_senatecommerce_involuntary_reduction_hours_intent_caresact
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We are not a bailout, but lately we have been punching bags. ``Make it 
        stop.''
    We strongly oppose any suggestion that the Payroll Support Program 
(PSP) was a bailout for airlines. The PSP, championed by the Commerce 
Committee, was a lifeline for aviation workers and the most successful 
and transparent program in all of COVID relief. Headlines that 
mischaracterize the purpose and use of this workers-first relief 
program, designed to continue the payroll for airline employees, make 
an already very difficult and stressful job on the frontlines of 
aviation even harder and more dangerous. We are the face of the airline 
and the direct interface with the public.
    The problem with aviation right now is the violence towards Flight 
Attendants and other aviation workers that has remained constant at 
record high levels during the biggest crisis our Nation has faced in 
100 years. The last thing we need, especially before the December 
holidays after dealing with all of the stresses on the frontlines of 
this pandemic for two years, is a false narrative about the program. 
Unfounded controversy breeds contempt for aviation workers simply doing 
our jobs to keep everyone safe.
    Throughout 2021, incidents of disruptive passengers and violent 
events against crew and passengers has been exponentially higher than 
any previous year in aviation. While the number of bad actors is 
relatively small, the rate of disruptions have been so pervasive Flight 
Attendants wonder every morning they put on their uniform whether it 
will be a sign of leadership and authority in the cabin to keep 
everyone safe, or a target for a violent attack.
    Flight Attendants are aviation's first responders, charged with the 
safety and health of passengers and crew. For the past twenty years, 
since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Flight Attendants have 
served as the last line of defense in aviation security. We know there 
are two fundamentals in aviation safety and security: 1) remove all 
distractions from safety sensitive work, and 2) leave all threats to 
safety and security on the ground.
    The threat of a terrorist attack related to commercial aviation has 
not abated, but our vigilance and coordinated actions across government 
and aviation stakeholders has to date thwarted any planned attacks. If 
we allow disruptions in the cabin or distractions due to defiance of 
passengers to comply with crew instructions to become a regular 
occurrence, we are in jeopardy of missing cues of a coordinated attack 
or handing tools to those who wish to do us harm. We cannot be lulled 
into a place of accepting these distractions as a new normal.
    Flight Attendants have one message for everyone who touches 
aviation and the lawmakers charged with oversight of our industry: Make 
it stop.
    There is no doubt the issue of disruptive passengers is of 
paramount concern and requires all of us--federal and private sector 
workers, airlines, airports, regulators, and lawmakers to act with 
coordinated urgency across aviation to subdue this threat to aviation 
safety and security. Our union is very much on the record with defining 
this problem \2\ and our recommendations to mitigate violent and 
disruptive events. In summary, we continue to call for:
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    \2\ https://www.afacwa.org/unruly_passengers_survey
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Recommendations:
   1.  Clear communication on the rules from point of ticket sale and 
        throughout the travel experience (airport signage, airport 
        PSAs, and notifications from the airline) reinforcing the 
        `zero-tolerance' policy, the fines/jail time consequences, and 
        the rules associated with alcohol consumption.

   2.  The DOJ must act with urgency to conduct criminal prosecution. 
        Just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday Attorney General Merrick 
        Garland directed Federal prosecutors to prioritize prosecution 
        of disruptive airline passengers. This was welcome news, but 
        our experience is that it takes publicly reported jail 
        sentences for this to serve as an effective deterrent.

   3.  Ban to-go alcohol and delivery of open container alcohol to the 
        gates. Limit customers to purchasing one alcoholic beverage at 
        a time. Airports and airlines should brief all airport 
        employees at the start of each shift of our shared 
        responsibility to keep intoxicated passengers from boarding 
        planes in violation of Federal regulations.

   4.  Enforce the mask mandate consistently, starting in the airport. 
        Model of compliance starting at the airport door. Make clear 
        who is responsible to enforce at TSA and encourage all airport 
        personnel to remind passengers of the rules and point to 
        signage and announcements placed more frequently throughout the 
        airport.

   5.  Consistent response and clear consequences. Increase 
        coordination with law enforcement, airports, and airlines to 
        act quickly in the airport to keep problems on the ground and 
        respond effectively in the event of incidents reported in the 
        air.

   6.  Government centralized list of offenders used to deny the 
        ability to fly across all airlines on the day of an incident. 
        Place travelers on central ``banned passenger list'' to deny 
        right to fly for a period of time commensurate with the 
        severity of the offense, recognizing all necessary due process 
        to protect individual rights. Direct FAA passenger fines into a 
        legal/medical fund for affected crewmembers, Passenger Service 
        Agents, and Transportation Security Officers.

   7.  Airlines should utilize FAA guidance to respond consistently to 
        disruptive and violent passenger incidents, including 
        communicating thoroughly the role of Flight Attendants, agents, 
        pilots, ground coordinators, and management in reporting the 
        incident to law enforcement and internal company review. 
        Workers must know both in advance and after any incident what 
        to expect from the airline in terms of legal support and 
        emotional assistance for any workers harmed in the course of a 
        disruptive passenger event.

   8.  Require that all airport bars, restaurants, and shops post 
        signage and issue verbal warnings to patrons who fail to comply 
        with masking requirements and regulations related to alcohol 
        consumption.

   9.  Relevant House and Senate Committees should work with urgency to 
        enact legislation that expands FBI concurrent jurisdiction to 
        include the jetbridge in order to ensure enforcement of Federal 
        crimes for violence that occurs when the airplane door is open.

  10.  Make crewmember self defense training mandatory. The voluntary 
        program currently run by U.S. Air Marshals working in the 
        Transportation Security Administration should be included in 
        required continuing qualifications training for crew and paid 
        by the airline as intended by Congress following the events of 
        September 11, 2001.

  11.  Increase staffing at the gate and on each flight. Almost every 
        passenger is an infrequent traveler today. We need more 
        frontline workers in the airports and on planes who are able to 
        answer questions, identify problems early in order to de-
        escalate, or simply have backup from other workers when issues 
        get out of hand or require physical restraint and a law 
        enforcement response. Regional airlines are reporting a couple 
        of aggressive passenger incidents per week and often there is a 
        single Flight Attendant to face unhinged rages.

  12.  Current conditions increase the urgency for the FAA and DOT to 
        implement the Flight Attendant rest rules mandated by Congress 
        in 2018.
CWA Calls on Congress to Help Enforce Protections for Passenger Service 
        Agents Under Federal Law
    Frontline ground service agents have worked throughout the COVID-19 
pandemic to provide essential services across airports in the U.S. 
Their work, helping passengers navigate systemwide flight cancellations 
and delays, evolving testing requirements and enforcing Federal and 
airline protocols at the gate, ensured passengers started and ended 
their journeys safely and efficiently. During this busy and uncertain 
holiday travel season however, ground service agents are finding their 
duties interrupted by an unprecedented increase in assaults from 
violent passengers. Since January 2021, the Federal Aviation 
Administration (FAA) has recorded 5,553 incidents involving disruptive 
passengers across airports in the U.S.\3\ These records however, only 
account for incidents involving flight crews, which means assaults 
against agents on the ground are going unreported and unaddressed. CWA 
is encouraged by the FAA's efforts to record and address assaults 
against flight crews but we are concerned that more can be done to 
enforce Federal protections for agents who are assaulted at the gates.
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    \3\ https://www.faa.gov/data_research/passengers_cargo/
unruly_passengers/
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    The Communications Workers of America represents 20,000 passenger 
service members working for American Airlines and wholly-owned regional 
subsidiaries Envoy Air and Piedmont Airlines. Over the past few months, 
our agents have experienced egregiously violent assaults that have had 
long lasting impacts on their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. 
Our members have reported being repeatedly punched in the face, kicked, 
slammed against doors and counters and have even been spit on by 
passengers. The visible and invisible impacts these attacks have on our 
members should concern everyone.
    The cause of these attacks vary but one common thread exists 
between these cases--the lack of enforcement by local, state and 
Federal departments creates opportunity for attacks to continue and to 
increase in severity. When incidents occur at the gates, local law 
officers are slow to respond, fail to properly document the incident by 
taking statements from witnesses and often do not detain the offending 
passenger.
    Further, even where arrests are made, local prosecutors rarely file 
serious charges in these cases. For example, on June 28, 2021, a 
passenger tried to board a flight from Charlotte International Airport 
in a state of extreme intoxication. When an agent barred him from 
boarding the plane, the passenger violently attacked our member and a 
supervisor. Despite the clear evidence of the assault, the Charlotte 
Police Department arrested and charged the passenger with less serious 
offenses such as, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and trespassing 
in the gate area. To the best of our knowledge, not a single passenger 
who has assaulted a ground service worker has been prosecuted under 
Federal law. This inaction signals to our members that their physical 
and emotional safety is not a priority.
    Agents are exhausted by the little to no enforcement in cases that 
result in personal injury and emotional stress. Union representatives 
report the highest number of calls to employee assistance programs 
searching for ways to cope with fatigue, stress and fear caused by 
these incidents. Gate agents are a vital part of a multilayered airline 
security and safety process at the airport and their importance can not 
be understated. Our members are the last line of defense before a 
disruptive passenger boards an airplane and causes disruptions in the 
air. Stopping assaults at the gate should be the highest security 
priority for members of Congress.
    The U.S. Attorney General's office recently issued a memorandum 
calling for an interagency coordination to address criminal conduct on 
commercial flights. Our members were excluded from this guidance. As 
oversight in these cases is within the purview of the Departments of 
Justice, Transportation and Homeland Security, we believe that an 
interagency working group that makes clear the responsibility of 
Federal and local agencies in cases of assault at airport gates, ticket 
and reservation areas, and other on-the-ground airport locations is 
necessary. The interagency working group should clarify the specific 
agency roles and should establish a clear pathway for the reporting, 
processing, referral, and prosecution of assault cases. The interagency 
working group should include labor representatives of ground service 
workers. CWA has partnered with other unions representing passenger 
service agents to urge DOJ, DHS and DOT to urgently address this issue.
    Millions of passengers are expected to travel during the upcoming 
Christmas and New Years holiday season. Right now, we have every 
indication that the trend of violent assaults and the lack of 
enforcement will continue without intervention. This Subcommittee can 
support our efforts to protect our members under Federal law by urging 
the Department of Justice to arrest and prosecute passengers who 
assault, intimidate or threaten gate agents either verbally or 
physically--preventing them from performing their duties to secure the 
aircraft while loading and unloading. Our members should expect a safe 
and just workplace--in fact, our entire aviation system depends on it.
Payroll Support Program (PSP) Benefits Extend Well Beyond Furlough 
        Protections
    This pandemic has been brutal and we're not through it yet. But no 
one should question the effectiveness of the relief provided to 
airlines in order to keep workers in our jobs, connected to our 
healthcare, and qualified to work. The economic impact of PSP helped 
workers and companies beyond the direct grant recipients. We recently 
received this message about a company in south Florida that was able to 
survive, maintain 850 jobs, and be in a position to hire more employees 
today simply because aviation worker payroll was maintained.

        ``I just wanted to thank you on behalf of all of the families, 
        including mine, that you impacted for the better across 
        Aviation over the past two years . . . I profoundly remember 
        sitting in our boardroom on March 10, 2020 talking about very 
        difficult choices that we needed to make just to survive until 
        the next month given the new and unforeseeable reality we 
        faced. We had been in business for 2 decades and literally 
        overnight we were confronted with what seemed to be an 
        insurmountable task to survive Covid 19 impacts on global 
        Aviation. As words such as shelter in place started to become 
        common lingo the prospects for our industry and the millions of 
        jobs tied to it seemed bleak to say the least. A long story 
        short, due to people like you fighting on behalf of all of us 
        and our families we have emerged stronger than ever and with 
        more jobs and better salaries for our entire team. Thank you on 
        behalf of all the ancillary businesses and the millions of 
        dependents that you fought for in the darkest hours.''

    Maintaining jobs, certification and security credentials puts us in 
a stronger position to address today's aviation security issues. I'm 
proud to share this thank you note that could also be addressed to 
every member of this Committee who worked to make this program law. Our 
economy and our planet will benefit from this program for decades to 
come.
    The International Transport Workers Federation commissioned a study 
that will release findings in the coming months. As an affiliate of the 
federation, I have seen the draft report that shows U.S. airlines need 
to spend $256 billion dollars between 2020-2025 for fleet renewal given 
the age of their fleets. Saving the airlines by saving people first 
also makes it possible now to support aerospace and manufacturing jobs, 
transition to newer fuel efficient aircraft and sustainable fuels, and 
remain in place to immediately support our military with initiatives 
like Operation Allies Welcome.
    PSP made it possible for us to get back to addressing many of the 
issues we had prior to the pandemic: safety, security, worker and 
consumer rights, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, implementing 
NextGen technology, and so much more.
Conclusion
    We thank Congress, and especially the bipartisan efforts of this 
Committee, for enacting the Payroll Support Program. It worked. Now 
let's focus on a safer workplace for the people on the frontlines of 
aviation and a collaborative effort to end the pandemic.
    Thank you for your continued oversight.

    The Chairwoman. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Nelson, and thank 
you for raising two important issues for us. I have worked with 
Senator Durbin on making sure the Department of Justice does 
address those issues. It is intolerable and I hope the 
Department of Justice will prosecute those cases.
    Second, I think it is safe to say if there are 100 members 
of the U.S. Senate, there were 100 different opinions exactly 
how this program worked, but in the end, people made a 
compromise and worked together to get something done. So thank 
you for mentioning that. This hearing is part of an official 
report that we are going to do so we won't get to every 
question today.
    There will be questions for the record, too. So if 
something, you know, isn't asked today, we will be following 
up. But there are a couple of things to cover now. We have 
talked about all the positive aspects of PSP. There are a 
couple of things people want to know about the hiccups along 
the way.
    Obviously, last July and August, we ran into some things. I 
think that was on my chart, we were way above everybody else in 
returning to service. But we sent out letters asking airlines 
who had problems to tell us what those were about. If you are 
one of those airlines and you want to comment, would you give 
us a comment on that? And then also on refunds, if we can just 
get a quick answer from people.
    I am assuming that all airlines believe that if you were 
someone who wanted to travel during that period and your flight 
was canceled and then something happened where you didn't want 
to travel, that you could get a refund. And so if you could 
just also give me a comment on that. So do you want to start, 
Mr. Parker?
    [Technical problems.]
    Mr. Parker.--and the end of October, we had, American had a 
serious operational issue. It was driven by an extraordinary 
event, winds at Dallas-Fort Worth of all places that shut down 
three of the five runways, our largest hub. When that happens, 
over two days, we end up with airplanes in the wrong place, 
people in the wrong place.
    So that was that was the driver of the vast majority of the 
cancellations. But we--in this environment, even though we are 
adequately staffed, it gets characterized--it gets 
unfortunately characterized--I mean it is probably 
characterized as we don't have enough people. As I have said in 
my testimony, we have more pilots per block hours, flight 
attendants per block hours than we have had in the past.
    In this environment, unfortunately, though, it is difficult 
to get people to pick up extra time is what we are finding. 
So--which is what we needed at that time. And that was the 
case. It is largely related to what Ms. Nelson said about some 
of what is going on on the aircraft as related to COVID, but we 
just didn't have--we don't have the ability to recover as 
quickly.
    Now, fortunately, those large events don't happen very 
often. But when they do, at least for us, we have had it much, 
much harder to recover than we had in the past, so it extended 
longer than it would have otherwise. It was a seriously 
disruptive event that would have resulted in hundreds of 
cancellations on its own. The fact that it took 2 days longer, 
we were troubled by, but that is the reason why we really do 
have difficulty versus prior to the pandemic right now.
    I think that will pass by the way. But this environment 
we're in right now, it is a different job than people have been 
working. We have called people back from leaves that were on 
leave that didn't--that weren't ready to be called back from 
leave. So people are doing a great job, phenomenal job showing 
up, doing their jobs, doing it right.
    But we need, you know, extra hours working by the minimum 
hours, is hard to find. So that was our case. As to refunds, of 
course, we agree exactly with what you said. And indeed, we at 
American issued $3.2 billion of refunds in 2020, in three 
quarters of 2020, and our revenues over the last three quarters 
of 2020 was $7.5 billion.
    We issued nearly as much in refunds as we had in revenue, 
or half as much rather over the three quarters.
    The Chairwoman. This is in refunds versus a, you know, a 
voucher or something?
    Mr. Parker. Yes, absolute--cash refunds, $3.2 billion. So 
yes, we took the position that you stated, which is, if we 
cancel a flight, of course, the customer's dollar is refunded, 
we issued those in cash.
    The Chairwoman. OK. Others?
    Mr. Kelly. My report is very similar, and it is a matter of 
getting adjusted to I think, you know, this pandemic reality 
that we are all dealing with, and we just need to make sure 
that we don't reschedule the airline relative to the people 
resources that we have, and we have made a number of 
adjustments in that regard. But much for the same reasons that 
Doug was describing there.
    Yes, refunds--the refunds are obviously required when we 
cancel the flight. Refunds are required within 7 days of the 
need for the refund, and we are totally in compliance with 
that.
    Our refund rate in 2020 was double what was normal, even 
though the revenues were a fraction of what they were 
historically. So I feel like, you know, we have taken very good 
care of our customers in that regard.
    The Chairwoman. OK, I am going to have to get the rest of 
you for the record, because my time is up, but I do want 
everybody to address that issue, including the airlines that 
aren't here. And if they can, you know, give us answers in 
writing for that would be great. Senator Wicker.
    Senator Wicker. Thank you very much. Let me ask about air 
quality. Mr. Laughter, in your testimony you say, ``we continue 
to electrostatically spray our aircraft interiors and high 
grade disinfectants and use HEPA air filters to remove 99.99 
percent of airborne particles on board.'' Is this new or were 
those HEPA filters there all along?
    Mr. Laughter. Thank you, Senator, for that question. Those 
are HEPA filters that are part of an aircraft circulation 
system, and I would assume that all modern airliners have those 
same systems.
    Senator Wicker. OK, so they were there to start with?
    Mr. Laughter. That is correct.
    Senator Wicker. And you have partnered, I believe, with 
Mayo Clinic?
    Mr. Laughter. That is correct.
    Senator Wicker. Perhaps other airlines did something 
similar with the top experts in the world on health care. What 
did they tell you about the quality of air with respect to the 
virus as compared to, say, a theater, a church, a concert hall, 
perhaps a hearing room? What did they tell you?
    Mr. Laughter. Senator, you are right. We did partner with 
some science experts such as the Mayo Clinic, and part of the 
discussion on the HEPA filters onboard the aircraft was to 
understand what that air turnover rate was and how the air 
quality onboard the aircraft would compare to other facilities.
    I can't speak to this room or any theater, but I think we 
all generally agree now that the cycle of the way air turns 
over in a pressurized air cabin and the filtration system is 
superior to many indoor spaces that you can be.
    Senator Wicker. OK. Who else from the airline industry 
would like to speak to that? Mr. Kirby?
    Mr. Kirby. Yes, thanks. Thanks for the question, Senator. 
And you know, at United we partnered with the Cleveland Clinic 
as our expert partner, but we also partnered with DARPA and the 
Department of Defense back in May of last year.
    That was a great story about why is United Airlines 
airplanes flying circles out over the Atlantic Ocean. And it 
was because the Department of Defense was testing the air flow 
on airplanes. And the conclusion of that is that expectively 
anywhere that you are going to be indoors, the airplane is the 
safest place that you can be indoors. It is because of the air 
filtration.
    Senator Wicker. Safer than a theater? Safer than----
    Mr. Kirby. Far safer than a theater. Safer actually than an 
intensive care unit because we have HEPA-grade filters, but we 
filter the air 20 to 30 times an hour in a typical ICU is 2 to 
3 times an hour. Our aircraft are a remarkably safe 
environment. The takeaway that I remember most is that being 
next to someone on an airplane, sitting next to them is the 
equivalent of being 15 feet away from them in a typical 
building.
    Senator Wicker. Now let me ask you this, Mr. Kirby. Do you 
think your airlines better than Mr. Laughter's, Mr. Kelly's, 
and Mr. Parkers?
    Mr. Kirby. Well, of course, I do. But I think we have all 
done the same thing for safety.
    Senator Wicker. Let me ask, Mr. Kelly on the air quality, 
and Mr. Parker, would both of you briefly comment on that and 
would we ever, do you think, be able to get on an airplane 
without masks?
    Mr. Kelly. Well, I would echo my colleague's comments on 
the quality of the air. The statistics I recall is 99.97 
percent of airborne pathogens are captured by the HEPA 
filtering system and is turned over every two or 3 minutes. We 
use UT Southwestern and Stanford School of Medicine, so we just 
add to this prestigious list. But yes, I think the case is very 
strong that masks don't add much, if anything in the air cabin 
environment. It is very safe and very high quality compared to 
any other indoor setting.
    Senator Wicker. Mr. Parker.
    Mr. Parker. I concur. The aircraft is the safest place you 
can be. It is true of all of our aircraft. They all have these 
HEPA filters and the same airflow.
    Senator Wicker. OK. Ms. Nelson, will we ever be able not to 
wear masks in them?
    Ms. Nelson. I think that that is probably for the medical 
community to decide rather than me, but what I will add is that 
the studies that were done that have been referenced were also 
done with a mannequins who were sitting straightforward with 
masks on, not removing them, not eating at any point in time.
    So, it is important to recognize that the safe, controlled 
environment on the plane is a layered safety protocol, which 
includes the sanitation of the aircraft, includes the service 
procedures, and includes the HEPA filtration that are not on 
all aircraft, by the way, and it includes everyone wearing the 
masks.
    Senator Wicker. So, the filtration system is different from 
airline to airline or----
    Ms. Nelson. From aircraft to aircraft. So not all aircraft 
have the HEPA filtration.
    The Chairwoman. Older--older planes may not----
    Ms. Nelson. The flights that you take to Mississippi, for 
example.
    Senator Wicker. They are the best.
    Ms. Nelson. They are the best. They are the best.
    Senator Wicker. Mr. Kelly that is what you told me.
    Mr. Kelly. On your Southwest flight.
    Ms. Nelson. OK, on your Southwest flight.
    [Laughter.]
    Ms. Nelson. I don't want to get in the middle of that. But 
what I will tell you is we absolutely look forward to the day 
that we no longer have the mask requirement, and we are simply 
trying to get through this pandemic and have had to enforce 
this to keep everyone safe. Not everyone on our planes have had 
access to the vaccine yet, either.
    Senator Wicker. Thank you, ma'am, and thank you, Madam 
Chair.
    The Chairwoman. Yes. Senator Schatz.

                STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN SCHATZ, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII

    Senator Schatz. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, ranking 
member. Thank you to all of you for being here. Really 
appreciate it. And we have all come through difficult times. We 
are probably not quite done with all of that, but I do 
appreciate every single one of your leadership.
    Let's start with Ms. Nelson. I know you elucidated in your 
testimony, but if you could for the Committee, just summarize 
what are the key recommendations that you have for passenger 
safety and for cruise safety going forward? And tell us what we 
should tell Pete Buttigieg to get on top of?
    Ms. Nelson. OK, so the biggest issue is making sure that we 
are very clear about what the consequences are if someone is 
acting out. So it is very--we are very heartened to know that 
FAA and DOJ are working together now, sharing information, and 
we are moving forward with criminal prosecution.
    When we got the fines and penalties in place in early 2000 
and then that was implemented and this was reported out through 
the media, by 2008, 2009, events of air rage incidents on 
planes was going down in the U.S. as it still going up around 
the world. So we know that those consequences are a good 
deterrent. We also need to be very clear from the time that 
people get into the airport until they leave the airport again 
on the other side of their trip about what the rules are, what 
the consequences are, and what we will do if they don't--they 
don't comply.
    We do need more enforcement in the airports because we are 
not seeing that happen, and it is unclear who is responsible 
for that at TSA and how consistently that is happening. We need 
to ban to go alcohol. This is a major issue. And alcohol is 
being pushed on passengers now today more so as we are in the 
pandemic than before. This started with to go alcohol because 
of pandemic serving procedures, and they determined that this 
was a moneymaker, and they are pushing it now in the airports.
    And that is unacceptable because it is at the expense of 
our safety. So we would hope that that would stop. And those 
are the key items. We also just want to make sure that there is 
attention on the issues at the gate as much as they are on the 
plane, because 50 percent of the events our members tell us 
they were able to identify there was a problem in the gate.
    If we had clear attention on that and had law enforcement 
response, we would cut down on half of the events on the plane 
right there.
    Senator Schatz. As someone who flies as much as a flight 
attendant, all of those are my personal observations as well, 
anecdotal as they may be. Mr. Kirby, I want to, first of all, 
thank you for your leadership on the climate issue.
    Mr. Kirby. Thank you.
    Senator Schatz. You said on a panel this year, we have had 
a couple of conversations about climate, and you have said some 
tough stuff about offsets. And so earlier this year, you said 
there are a fig leaf for a CEO who wants to write a check, 
check the box, pretend they have done the right thing. I tend 
to agree.
    I know this is a little bit of a love fest, but I think it 
is important for us to talk about offsets. I get aviation is 
hard. You are in the business of using jet fuel to move people 
around the planet. And so as we make our climate 
transformation, you may be some of the laggards and not because 
you don't desire to move, but because we don't really have an 
alternative to jet fuel.
    So could you talk about A, what you think about offsets, 
and B, what is the future of transportation as it relates to 
climate action?
    Mr. Kirby. Well, thank you, Senator. They are related. And 
as you know, as many of you know, this is a personal passion 
for mine, and United is trying to make a real difference in the 
world on climate change for aviation. We are hard to 
decarbonize industry, but it is important that we keep flying 
people.
    You know, one of the casualties of COVID was the loss of 
connectivity around the world. When we have thousands of people 
flying to another country every day, back and forth, those 
bridges help bring us together, and they got torn apart during 
COVID. So we need to keep flying but do it responsibly. 
Sustainable aviation fuel is the number one thing for this 
industry, and we need your help, your support. In the Build 
Back Better bill there is a portion of it.
    Regardless of what happens with the overall bill, the 
blenders tax credit that is the most important thing that can 
happen to really build that industry. That is going to be big 
for us. On your point about climate or about carbon offsets, 
traditional carbon offsets, I have been passionate about this 
for 30 years and I have hated it because the fact of the matter 
is most of them aren't real.
    They are planting trees that were going to be planted 
anyway or not cutting down trees that are not going to be cut 
down anyway. But even if that isn't the case, if we took, this 
comes from Yale, if we took all the space on the planet where 
you could plant trees and planted them all with trees, it is 
less than 5 months of mankind's emissions and it is a one shot 
solution.
    And because of that, we will not make a dent in climate 
change if every corporation--this isn't unique to aviation--if 
every corporation is focused on the easy answer, let's plant 
trees, in order to solve climate change. We need real things 
like sustainable aviation, fuel carbon sequestration.
    If we had more time, I would talk about that, as you know, 
but we need real solutions like that. This is a solvable 
problem. It is not easy. We can solve it, but we got to be real 
about what the answers are.
    Senator Schatz. I have two questions, for the record. The 
first will be about minimum seat size, and the second will be 
about an in-flight video that used to be in every seat back 
coming into the State of Hawaii to basically educate people. I 
know under the Commerce Clause of the United States 
Constitution, we can't prevent people from coming to the State 
of Hawaii, but we can tell people how to be a good guest.
    And right now, that is a clickable option, which nobody 
clicks, and particularly bad guests are not going to be the 
ones that click. I have tried to work with FRA to get this to 
be mandatory content. I will be reducing my request in writing 
to you. Thank you.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you. Senator Blunt. Senator Klobuchar 
had been on the screen, so we are going to go to her afterwards 
if she is available. But Senator Blunt.

                 STATEMENT OF HON. ROY BLUNT, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSOURI

    Senator Blunt. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Mr. Kirby, 
when--we may see how far this question goes with others, but 
when you were getting ready to get back to significant numbers 
of passengers in the air and in the airport, what were the 
things you were the most concerned about that you didn't 
control?
    Mr. Kirby. You know, one of the things we did that was 
unique at United in April of last year, we thought the pandemic 
might last a couple of years, and because of that, we put a 
team together that really their goal was to identify land mines 
of things that if this lasted for a few years, and mostly there 
were small things like badging at airports, you know, the 
badging office, make sure they were appropriately staffed.
    The things that we worried about the most were really the 
unanticipated because we had a list of hundreds of things we 
could put through all of those. The challenges that we have had 
have been--we have had challenges too. We have avoided big 
operational disruptions. But the challenges have mostly been 
around things that happen from vendors that support all of us.
    So there were fuel shortages in the West this summer, 
airports that--that wasn't even on our list, and we had a long 
list, as an example. But those kinds of shortages with people 
that we depend on, infrastructure that we depend on and kind of 
took for granted that wasn't ready to come back at 100 percent 
as soon as we were.
    Senator Blunt. Mr. Laughter, do you have anything on that 
question?
    Mr. Laughter. I would only add that similarly, as we were 
getting ready for the return, we formed a team of operational 
readiness. And part of what we were looking at is, is what 
other pieces of the aviation puzzle we should we just be having 
the same conversation with, and that included several 
Government entities such as the FAA, air traffic controllers, 
CBP, and TSA.
    And largely as we did that coordination, we found that they 
were having similar conversations. So a lot of those were the 
things that we went through, in addition to some of the supply 
chain issues Mr. Kirby mentioned.
    Senator Blunt. Well, Ms. Nelson, on that same topic, were 
there things from a flight attendant perspective that you would 
have expected to be ready when you got back to numbers of 
passengers? And you mentioned already the concerns about 
putting people on the plane that it is obvious in the airport 
they shouldn't be on the plane. Any other things like that you 
have seen?
    Ms. Nelson. We--our biggest issue right now, actually, is 
this pushing of alcohol in the airport and then the 
inconsistency with the enforcement so that people are not 
really sure what to believe. Part of the problem that we have 
seen is that as people are boarding at different airports, some 
of the patchwork of policies around the Nation about what 
people should be doing has led people to believe that--they 
don't know what to believe. And keeping people in a constant 
state like that is really unsettling.
    And so I would liken it to when we have a delay and we have 
got all the passengers on the plane, in the times when we are 
giving regular updates about what is going on and we are being 
honest with people, they leave that plane smiling and happy. 
When we don't do that, they are very angry, and that is what we 
have seen during the pandemic with the different policies and 
the different communications. And that has been--I think, added 
to the issues at the airport.
    Senator Blunt. Alright. Thank you. Mr. Parker, you 
mentioned earlier that you thought you had the right number of 
people, but you didn't have the right number of people at the 
right time. Why would that be people--the right number of 
people, if everybody's well and showing up?
    Mr. Parker. Right number if we don't have any enormous 
disruption, if we don't have a significant disruption. In those 
events, you know, we need people to want to pick up additional 
trips and to work more than just their minimums. That is the 
situation. Very rare that it happens, but it happened to us in 
late October. But that is really the situation.
    And in normal weather events, this isn't about--it doesn't 
have to be perfect weather. We have enough people to run the 
airline, we have enough people run the airline, and in any sort 
of, you know, hurricanes or anything like that we can handle.
    But when we had this un-forecasted situation in Dallas, we 
as--it is very difficult to get people to essentially not only 
volunteer for work, but to be there to pick up additional trips 
when needed.
    Senator Blunt. Now this may be more of a societal question 
than just an airline question, but did you have more people--do 
you think people are more willing to take extra time before the 
pandemic than after the pandemic?
    Mr. Parker. Oh, absolutely. And again, but again, I am not 
trying to make a statement about our people. I am saying it is 
largely related to the pandemic, I believe. Again, some of the 
things Ms. Nelson talked about makes it hard for flight 
attendants to want to be--to go to work when they have to.
    But also, yes, it is--there is a global pandemic going on. 
So it is--anyway, our team is doing a great job. We just find 
it harder in those circumstances than it has been in the past.
    Senator Blunt. Mr. Kelly, I see Ms. Nelson shaking her 
head, yes. Did you see the same--do you have the same situation 
2 years ago? Would you have had people more eager to sign up 
for overtime than you would----
    Mr. Kelly. Yes, it is a very different environment. And I 
don't talk to a CEO without having, you know, similar 
experiences shared. So it is a difficult hiring environment. As 
we all know, there is a lot of people out of the work force. 
And then, I think even within, Doug mentioned earlier, just 
having people returning from leaves.
    Three weeks makes a habit. They are out for a long time. 
They may not be interested in working as much, as an example. 
Sarah mentioned the same thing. So yes, I think we are all 
experiencing that. Absenteeism is higher. We have more people 
on leave. Attrition is a little bit higher. So for most 
categories, it is not that they are remarkably different.
    But when you add them all together, yes, it is just a 
different working environment. We are adjusting to it. And I 
think one of the things that we are anxious to do is restore 
flight activity within our network where it was before. And 
obviously, one of the supply chain constraints we have is just 
getting people on board to do that.
    Senator Blunt. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.
    The Chairwoman. Yes. Senator Klobuchar.

               STATEMENT OF HON. AMY KLOBUCHAR, 
                  U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA

    Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Senator Cantwell. I 
am here chairing a hearing on antitrust and innovation, so I am 
pleased to be on remotely. Why don't we start with you, Mr. 
Kelly? You talked about in your testimony how Southwest 
maintained service to all the domestic airports that you serve 
before the pandemic. Could you talk about how the PSP helped 
Southwest achieve this?
    Mr. Kelly. Absolutely. Thank you, Senator, great to see 
you. I think it was simply being able to keep all of our 
airplanes, keep all of our people, and then be in a position 
where we can respond to demand as it returns. So during the 
pandemic, in the darkest days when revenues were down 95 
percent, obviously we didn't need to be flying a lot of empty 
airplanes around, so we reduced our flight activity there.
    But we had opportunities to add--with available aircraft, 
we had opportunities to add more new cities, and we are 
delighted to see that we had a lot of good opportunities to do 
that. They were more leisure oriented because business travel 
still lags dramatically what it was pre-pandemic. But I think 
PSP required--provided the funds to be able to sustain that.
    Senator Klobuchar. OK, excellent, thank you. Mr. Parker, 
you and I met yesterday. We talked about just overall the 
workforce shortage issues. And talk about in a minute here, 
including airplane mechanics, what do you think we need to do 
in Washington to improve that?
    Mr. Parker. Well, thanks, Senator. Yes, it is--we have a 
number of jobs like these mechanic jobs, pilot jobs that are 
great jobs that unfortunately are--we could do a much better 
job of providing--as a country, making it easier for people to 
get the training necessary to do those jobs.
    And we certainly would like to work with you more on that. 
I think all of us have ideas on things can be done. But this is 
a workforce issue that is ripe to be addressed and one that I 
know that if we work together, we can get addressed.
    Senator Klobuchar. Excellent, thank you. Mr. Laughter, 
Senator Blunt, he just spoke, he and I lead the bill on--led 
the bill for a while on Brand USA, which is really important to 
allow our country to advertise in other countries.
    Obviously, the pandemic has--and allowed us to partner with 
the private sector to do that and not at the expense of 
taxpayers, but to great gain for tourism. Could you talk about, 
despite the pandemic, how hard this has been, how important 
international travel is to our country in terms of not just the 
airlines, but really our entire tourism network?
    Mr. Laughter. Well, Senator, thank you for that question. I 
would say it is extremely important, and it is this segment of 
our business recovery that is lagging the most. So we are 
excited to see and very encouraged by the changes to our border 
opening.
    And I think that that going forward is one of the most 
important things that we can do, is ensure that we keep the 
border open, we keep the process for crossing the border 
simple, and we work on making it consistent and easy within 
whatever those requirements are, be it vaccinations or tests or 
things like that. So I think, you know, that piece of our 
international business recovery is key.
    Senator Klobuchar. Alright, thank you. And now maybe you 
can comment on Brand USA later on the record, if anyone else 
wants to do that because it's pretty important to the tourism 
industry. Everyone--anyone want to join in here? No one? OK. 
Hi, Senator Grassley. I am on live in the commerce hearing. Do 
you want to say hello?
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Klobuchar. Now I will turn to Ms. Nelson. Ms. 
Nelson, you referred to the flight attendants as you sometimes 
sadly can be punching bags when there are disruptive 
passengers. Could you quickly give your ideas on how you can 
get at that? And what are some of the policy changes you think 
would help?
    Ms. Nelson. Yes. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar. So we 
definitely need clear consequences. So we are happy to see that 
DOJ is taking this as a serious step and the instruction from 
President Biden to do that. We also need to address any of the 
issues that are contributing to this, such as alcohol, which 
is--our members tell us is about 60 percent of the incidents.
    So we are trying to cut the to go alcohol in the airports. 
And we need clear communications throughout the entire process, 
so--and coordinated response from law enforcement and FBI so 
that we have consistent response at the gates and those 
consequences can be levied. So these are the holes that we are 
trying to plug, and I do want to recognize that we have been 
working with the airlines on this and there have been absolute 
advancements by working together.
    We have announcements from the pilots, we have 
announcements at the gates, and everyone is understanding that 
the entire airline ecosystem has this problem, not just flight 
attendants, not just gate agents, but we need to do more.
    Senator Klobuchar. Alright. I really appreciate it. Thank 
you, everybody, and we will respond--we will need--Blunt and I 
will want answers on the Brand USA because it has been a huge 
priority for the tourism industry. OK. Thank you.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar. Senator 
Fischer.

                STATEMENT OF HON. DEB FISCHER, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM NEBRASKA

    Senator Fischer. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to 
our panel for being here today. Inflation is up 6.8 percent 
year over year, accelerating at its fastest pace in almost 40 
years. Americans across the country are feeling the pain of 
increased costs of goods, with higher prices, from a carton of 
milk to a gallon of gasoline. As airline executives, what 
inflationary factors are most concerning to your companies as 
we move into 2022, and will these factors impact airfare? Why 
don't we start with you, Mr. Parker?
    Mr. Parker. Thank you. The large one for us is fuel. It is 
our second largest expense in American. Our wages actually 
aren't done--don't have enormous inflationary pressure because 
we have 85 percent union jobs, and our people are very well 
paid. But we certainly are seeing fuel costs increases. It is a 
commodity that is volatile, but certainly the last couple 
months that increase is going to have a significant impact on 
our cost structure, and at some point that will result in 
higher fares.
    Senator Fischer. Mr. Kelly.
    Mr. Kelly. I would echo Doug's comments and just say that 
as we are recovering and trying to get our schedule back to 
maximum efficiency as we were close to it pre-pandemic, if you 
will, there is a lot of opportunities to drive down--we are 
fixed cost industry, so there is a lot of opportunities to 
drive down our unit cost. But until that time, we will have 
some inflationary cost pressures. You know, maybe just a little 
bit different comment is, you know, we are seeing wage pressure 
across the board with front line employees, and we are 
competing with other sectors, especially for airport workers.
    So inflation is real. It is a concern. At the same time, if 
you look at airfares, the inflation adjusted airfares have been 
trending down for decades and certainly been trending down 
since 2014. So we are doing our best to hold the line in terms 
of airfare inflation.
    Senator Fischer. And we appreciate that they were trending 
down, but I believe now they are going to be trending up. And 
how long do you think that will last?
    Mr. Kelly. Well, obviously we compete. So I am not speaking 
for the industry, but we are low cost, we are low-fare, we 
don't charge bag fees, we don't charge change fees, so we are 
going to do our best to be America's leading low-fare carrier 
going forward.
    Senator Fischer. OK. Mr. Kirby.
    Mr. Kirby. I would echo what both these gentlemen have 
said. Fuel is our highest, our most volatile, and most 
susceptible to inflation. Another one that I would add is 
airports. You know, a lot of airports had lower revenues as 
there were fewer flights around the country, and so some of the 
airport and fees for air navigation are going up.
    Those are probably the highest in a percentage increase, 
and we would hope--we are working to and hopefully will get 
ways to moderate those because it is the last thing, obviously, 
we and our people need.
    And then the third one is what Gary said which is, you 
know, all of the support services around aviation are feeling 
pressure, whether it is everything, whether it is people to 
fuel airplanes, or security, airport workers in restaurants, 
and all of that is, tends to flow through to us, whether they 
have the contractual right or not.
    People, our vendors will say we are either going to go out 
of business or you are going to pay us more because we simply 
can't hire people. So it is mostly about hiring people in those 
kinds of jobs.
    Senator Fischer. Mr. Laughter.
    Mr. Laughter. I would first say thank you again to Congress 
and the U.S. taxpayer for getting us in the position that we 
are today. And I would just want to emphasize the point of 
returning to our full scale is being the best thing that we can 
do to combat these inflationary pressures. I think that as I 
mentioned earlier, getting international open, keeping it open, 
and continuing to restore our full network is going to be the 
number one thing that we can do.
    Senator Fischer. When you look at the energy costs that you 
are facing here, fuel costs, and when you are looking at 
pressure and trying to have enough employees as you are 
building up your flights again, how is that going to affect 
your economic outlook for 2022?
    Mr. Laughter. Well, so for Delta, we continue to hire. We 
have hired about over 8,000 people this year, and that is a key 
part of getting back to that return that we are talking about.
    We, at my company, see our recovery continuing through 2022 
and into 2023, and that--I think the question there will be 
when do the international markets fully reopen? But we see 
continued up--you know, we do, we have a new variant out there 
that we are keeping an eye on. And I think that long term, 
though, we continue to regain that scale through the course of 
2022.
    Senator Fischer. Mr. Laughter, it was recently announced 
that Delta is going to be ending a daily service between our 
capital City of Lincoln and Minneapolis on January 10. I would 
like to be able to have a conversation with you about that or 
some written questions for the record, please.
    Mr. Laughter. Absolutely. I welcome that.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you. It is my understanding that 
Senator Hickenlooper is going to be next. Senator Baldwin has 
deferred to you very graciously.

             STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HICKENLOOPER, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO

    Senator Hickenlooper. I am always in deeper debt.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Hickenlooper. Appreciate that. Thank you all for 
making time. I know how busy you all are, and I know what 
challenging years you have had. Mr. Kirby, I thought I would 
start with you just because you have had such a busy year, 
partnership with Boom Supersonic, based in Colorado, which is--
will allow United to procure supersonic aircraft using 
sustainable aviation fuel.
    And then you were on that first flight from Chicago to D.C. 
with 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel in one engine, which 
somehow seems out of balance to me to this day. And then also 
your investment in the middle of just a week ago or less than a 
week ago in hydrogen electric engines for regional aircraft 
flights. Hey, I commend you for the initiative that you are 
showing.
    But recognizing the damage done by COVID and the pandemic, 
how will airlines like United be able to continue to pursue 
climate ambitions amidst, you know, the economic recovery? Is 
that something that should be of great concern?
    Mr. Kirby. Well, thank you, Senator, for the kind words. We 
are excited--we are excited to be part of that innovation on 
the other side of the COVID and looking to the future. And my 
answer to how can we do it is, we don't have a choice. We have 
to do it, first and foremost because the right thing to do for 
the planet. But at some point also either our customers, our 
shareholders, our regulators, the legislative branch are going 
to force us to do it because it is the right thing to do.
    And this industry, because it is hard to decarbonize, needs 
to start making the seed investments to build that foundation. 
It is the reason that I think the bill--the blenders credit is 
so important. To me, doing for aviation, what we want, what we 
need to do is run the same playbook that we ran as a country, 
as a globe for wind and solar 20 years ago.
    Wind and solar were uneconomic 20 years ago, but here there 
were credits, there was support, there was certainty for the 
industry, drove massive investment, they came down the cost 
curve, built economies of scale. It is now cheaper to produce 
power with wind, and solar than it is with fossil fuels. We 
need to run that same playbook.
    We know the playbook that works and what is--the current 
blenders tax credit, you know, really will drive the kind of 
investment that we need because we need--we estimate $250 
billion of investment to get the global aviation industry to a 
10 percent start. This will be what kick starts and drives the 
start of that private investment to make that happen.
    Senator Hickenlooper. And I know from previous 
conversations with Mr. Parker, Mr. Kelly, that they share your 
sentiments in this regard. Mr. Laughter, I will start earlier 
with the discussion of discontinued flights. Grand Junction is 
about 300 miles west of Denver, 280 miles west of Denver, and 
you have been flying there for decades, from Salt Lake City to 
Grand Junction, Colorado. They remain 90 percent full. It is a 
critical route for Grand Junction. It fits into their economic 
package in a variety of ways.
    Just what--I have always been told airlines want to become 
an essential part of a local economy. It really is a key travel 
hub to access to a number of Western cities that, you know, it 
has been used 24 years, over millions of customers. And just in 
the last--this year alone, we have had 80,000 customers flying 
on that route.
    And yet they heard there were recently announced, very 
recently announced that that flight is going to be 
discontinued. What economic conditions are you considering in 
terms of making these decisions? And what should State 
officials, how can we create an environment where this doesn't 
happen?
    Mr. Laughter. Well, Senator, thank you for the opportunity 
to talk about that. The one area that we are seeing a labor 
shortage, and I think it is short lived, is in our regional 
pilots. And so as the major airlines are hiring pilots and 
because of the fact that in 2020 there was a gap where there 
was much lower flying, which sort of disrupted the training 
pipeline and the captain upgrade in the regional world, that is 
sort of impacting us at this point.
    And so as we look out, we aren't able to serve every place 
that we would like to. And so I do think that that is short 
lived and we see recovery happening in 2022. And so as always, 
these cities, we desire to serve them, and so I think it is 
part of our continual analysis to see when we can get back in 
there. And we have resumed service to some places that were 
suspended during the pandemic.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Well, I will tell the people 
of Grand Junction to exhibit a little patience. That doesn't 
usually work very well with our local officials, but I will 
give it my best, my best shot. I will yield back time to the 
Chair. Thank you. Thank you all.
    The Chairwoman. Senator Thune.

                 STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE, 
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA

    Senator Thune. Madam Chair, Thank you. And thanks to all of 
you for agreeing to testify today as the country continues to 
grapple with supply chain challenges. I appreciate the 
opportunity to discuss the recovery that U.S. airlines have had 
from the major disruptions of travel last year, when the 
pandemic emerged. And I think a lot of it was due to the 
success of the Payroll Support Program, which has kept airlines 
running and their employees working even travel numbers 
plummeted. As Thanksgiving travel numbers indicate, the 
industry starting to see a pretty strong recovery in domestic 
air travel, and I am hoping that we will see that similar 
recovery in the international air travel next year as 
vaccination campaigns continue and the world becomes more 
accustomed to handling these new coronavirus variants.
    As the strong recovery progresses, I want to continue to 
emphasize the importance of considering rural communities, 
which have felt a disproportionate impact from pandemic related 
service reductions as longer-term service decisions are made. 
Mr. Kirby, could you describe how United is working with 
codeshare partners to maximize service in smaller markets?
    And then I will ask this of Mr. Parker when he concludes 
his answer, if you could provide some examples of innovative 
approaches your airline has taken to form partnerships with 
other carriers or communities to ensure stability in service?
    Mr. Kirby. Well, thank you, Senator Thune. And it follows 
on, you know, to the previous, past question. There has been a 
looming pilot shortage for the last decade in the United 
States, and going through COVID, it became an actual pilot 
shortage. So all of us, particularly our regional partners, 
simply don't have enough airplanes to fly.
    We have almost 100 airplanes effectively grounded right 
now, regional aircraft, because there is not enough air--there 
are not enough pilots to fly them. Which means, we just can't 
at the moment fly to all the small communities that we would 
like to. It is really about not having enough pilots. I am a 
little less optimistic that that situation is going to reverse 
itself in the near term unless we do something to increase the 
supply of pilots.
    At United, we have bought and have our first Khan Academy 
called Aviate Academy with our first class start on Monday of 
this week with 30 people, 79 percent of them diverse, also 
another opportunity. These are 30 people that have no flight 
experience that are going to get the opportunity to become 
pilots.
    And if they pass all the certification and all the tests, 
can become commercial airline pilots at the end of the program. 
We are going to need a lot more programs like that. The country 
is going to need thousands of pilots.
    Senator Thune. Is that a function primarily of just more 
aggressive recruiting?
    Mr. Kirby. No, it is really a function of--the problem to 
become a pilot, particularly the 1,500 hour rule, is you need 
to spend $150,000, and that is typically not eligible for 
Government loans like other, you know, if you want to be a 
doctor, a lawyer, you can get loans and go to school.
    If you want to be a commercial airline pilot, you can't do 
that, even though your career earnings are higher, and we need 
those people. So creating ways that they can finance and fund 
their ability to get the requisite training is really the 
foundation, and I think it is the only way we are going to 
solve this problem for small communities, because I expect it 
is going to get worse before it gets better. We have to have a 
higher supply of pilots and we just don't have enough today.
    Senator Thune. Alright. Well, I know we would all be 
interested in things that we could do to help and provide 
incentives to fill that pipeline, refill that pipeline. Mr. 
Kelly--or Mr. Parker, I am sorry.
    Mr. Parker. Yes. And services to small communities is 
incredibly important to American Airlines. We serve some 230 
cities in the United States. Obviously, a number of those are 
smaller communities, and places like Sioux City and Rapid--
Sioux Falls and Rapid City are important to that. So, and we 
would like to serve more, frankly, over time. But again, at 
this point in time I agree with, you know, where Scott is.
    We at American have not yet--well, we have--we serve the 
same number of cities we did prior to the pandemic. We have 
terminated--we have lost some service to three cities, but we 
have added three others. So, but it is an issue, it is going to 
be an issue for our ability to serve if we can't recruit enough 
pilots, you know, the regional airlines.
    But again, I believe we can get that solved, but that is 
certainly an issue that we are concerned about going forward. 
It hasn't affected American yet. As to ways to make it even 
better, as you asked, alliances that we have established that 
American with other airlines like Alaska and JetBlue make it 
more likely for us to be able to serve smaller markets because 
we just connect people to more places.
    So all of our business is about connecting people and 
connecting dots, and the more ways we can do that through 
either alliances or on our own mettle, we are looking to do all 
the time.
    Senator Thune. Good. And very quickly, and this has been 
alluded to already, if you could touch on utilizing sustainable 
aviation fuel to further reduce your emissions. I am concerned 
about ICAO's carbon emissions modeling for SAF, which penalizes 
American farmers because of its treatment of induced land use 
changes versus the DOE's more favorable and I would argue, 
accurate green model. What are your airlines doing to increase 
the use of, and I know it has been talked a little bit--touched 
on already, but I guess, can you commit to utilizing homegrown 
biofuels?
    Mr. Parker. Yes, sir. Again, that is the answer to getting 
us to carbon neutral is safe aviation fuels, and we are all 
dedicated to doing just that.
    Senator Thune. OK.
    Mr. Kelly. Yes, I would agree, and in fact, you know, the 
targets that have been established are very ambitious and it is 
going to take a sea change from where we are to achieve that, 
and we need to cast a very broad net in terms of raw materials 
to produce it. So we would be very supportive of that.
    Senator Thune. Yes. Mr. Kirby.
    Mr. Kirby. Well, Senator, I think it is important that we 
get on a level playing field with road fuels, which we are not 
today. A lot of incentives that exist for that, not for fuels. 
But I also think it is a globe--at some point it is going to 
have to come to grips with our sustainable fuels need to come 
from sources other than just farm food. So, you know, municipal 
solid waste, Woody biomass, whatever it is, you may be even 
power to liquids. We are going to have to come to grips with 
that too.
    Senator Thune. Yes. OK. Good.
    Mr. Laughter. And Senator, I would just echo these comments 
that we have ambitions and goals to increase our use of 
sustainable aviation fuels. We need it produced on the scale 
that will support this industry and we look forward to 
partnering with you and Congress on that.
    Senator Thune. Good. Thank you. Thanks, Madam Chair.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you. Senator Baldwin.

               STATEMENT OF HON. TAMMY BALDWIN, 
                  U.S. SENATOR FROM WISCONSIN

    Senator Baldwin. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to start 
off where Senator Thune started off with regard to the need for 
additional pilots. In my home State of Wisconsin, we have a lot 
of small communities that are served by regional aircraft. And 
Mr. Kirby, a United Express air carrier, Air Wisconsin is based 
in our state. They fly the 50 seat aircraft. And statements 
that you made last month at the Skift Aviation Forum about 
markets that rely on these 50 seaters greatly concerned me, as 
you can imagine.
    Now, I am working on legislation that would make flight 
education and training programs more accessible to a broader 
range of students, precisely by increasing the amount of 
student loan aid available for individuals who are enrolled in 
an accredited program, all to ensure that we are going to have 
a strong pipeline of pilots to fly to small communities and 
everywhere that travelers want to go.
    So I know there is a counterpart that's been introduced in 
the House of Representatives. We are just trying to put the 
final touches on it right now for Senate introduction. But 
would you agree that such a proposal would encourage more 
people to become pilots, and what more is United doing to 
recruit and retain pilots?
    Mr. Kirby. Yes, well, thank you, Senator. And for what it 
is worth, some of those markets are going to get ungauged to 
bigger airplanes. But small cities that are entirely relying on 
a 50 seat service are at risk unless we create a bigger supply 
of pilots. So I apologize, I am not familiar with the specifics 
of your bill, but the idea of increasing the supply of pilots 
is really important, and the Government has a huge role to play 
in helping us do that.
    At United, we have tried our self-help measure of using our 
Aviate Academy as a way, and we intend to train 500 new pilots 
a year. It is not just about creating the next generation of 
pilots, it is a safer program. It is much more like you are up 
to going to pilot training at the Air Force or, you know, the 
Navy where you learn not just to fly, you fly aerobatics, you 
fly in complicated airspace, it improves diversity, so there is 
a lot of great things we can do.
    But there is a real opportunity for this. And these are 
great careers. I mean, a captain at United Airlines, and we 
have over 200 widebody airplanes. The captains on those 
airplanes make $400,000 with great benefits, I mean, there is 
not many careers left like that in the United States.
    So we just need to help people get onto the first rung of 
the ladder, get through the rigorous training process so they 
have enough certification to start at an airline and then they 
can make their careers. But we are all on board with doing 
anything we can to increase that supply and to help do that.
    Senator Baldwin. Great. I want to switch focuses now to one 
area where I think the industry has a great opportunity to 
emerge from the pandemic much better than before, and that is 
the topic of travel for individuals with disabilities.
    I recognize that air travel has been anything but normal 
since the early days of COVID-19. But in looking at disability 
related complaints filed with the Department of Transportation, 
there seems to have been a significant increase in complaints 
filed in 2021 as compared to 2018. And so a question for each 
of you to answer, what are--what is your airline doing to 
address disability related complaints? And why don't we start 
with you, Mr. Parker.
    Mr. Parker. Thank you. It is certainly an issue that we are 
working very hard to address. It is a difficult situation on 
aircraft, of course, and it has been. We are all working very 
hard to do everything we possibly can. Interested in working 
and continue to work with you on other things that might be 
done.
    We at American, for example, while we know we are not doing 
as well as we can, we are we are encouraged by the fact that 
the number of--due to a lot of effort, the number of wheelchair 
damages that we have had are down 40 percent over the last 
year. So, again, by no means are we where we need to be, but we 
are intensely focused on being the best we can in this regard.
    Senator Baldwin. OK. Mr. Kelly.
    Mr. Kelly. It think, you know, here in the short term our 
primary focus is on wheelchairs training, in reducing the 
damage, and also working with wheelchair manufacturers to see 
what can be done to harden wheelchairs. They are just not built 
to be loaded into their aircraft bins and transported.
    So I think there is opportunities there. And like Doug 
reported, we are definitely seeing our claims coming down, 
which is obviously very welcomed. More futuristic, we are 
working with manufacturers or intend to work with manufacturers 
in terms of bathroom access on board the airplane, which is 
obviously a big challenge and especially on narrow body 
airplanes. But those are the two primary things that we are 
working on.
    Senator Baldwin. Mr. Kirby.
    Mr. Kirby. We also have been very--it is a high priority 
for us, and focused on wheelchairs, and have had a significant 
reduction in wheelchair damages, wheelchair complaints. Like 
Gary said it is tough because, you know, the wheelchairs just 
aren't built--in spite of that, we are focused very hard on 
that.
    We are doing a lot of other things for people with 
disabilities. We were the first airline, for example, to get 
our website and our app for blind, for user blind--for the 
visually impaired to be able to use it. There is a lot of 
things like that--we have a whole team and I coincidentally met 
with that team this past week on all the things we can do to 
improve the world for disabled.
    And a passionate group because for most of them it is 
personal. They are either disabled themselves or have family 
members that are disabled. And having a team like that to 
advocate for, you know, it is probably one of the best things 
that we can do internally to make sure we drive the kinds of 
changes, identify what the issues are, and then drive change.
    Senator Baldwin. Mr. Laughter.
    Mr. Laughter. Senator, I would add that wheelchairs and 
assistive devices are a focus for Delta, and we certainly are 
working toward zero. That is our goal. We have also created an 
advisory board on disability, which is made up of Delta 
customers who volunteer their time from the disability 
community and to help us throughout the travel where they make 
travel more accessible.
    Senator Baldwin. Great. Thank you for your indulgence. I 
will submit one additional question for the record, just 
relating to the fact that in airports, people with disabilities 
often rely on folks that you have contracted with to help with 
mobility in the airports, and I have some specific questions 
about that.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you. Senator Moran.

                STATEMENT OF HON. JERRY MORAN, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM KANSAS

    Senator Moran. Chairwoman, thank you very much. Thanks to 
our panelists for being here. Let me start where Senator Thune 
led, which is with rural communities. Both American and United 
are significant suppliers of air service across our state.
    Essential air service is a significant component of the 
ability to do that. I think it was you, Mr. Kirby, that talked 
about the cost of training and educating a pilot. And I assume 
that--are the revenues insufficient to cover the costs of 
pilots in those smaller towns, is it harder to cover?
    And then my question becomes, is essential air service a 
method by which we could better compensate the airlines for 
service that is less financially rewarding, if that is the 
case?
    Mr. Kirby. Yes, Senator, thanks for the question again. And 
it is really important. Our bread and butter is flying to those 
small cities and connecting the world. We really want to--we 
don't want to take any of the cities off the map. And the 
issue, though, is not really about economics.
    If it is, it is about economics for individuals who are 
deciding on their careers when they get out of college or when 
they are wherever and deciding, do I go to law school or do I 
go to another, you know, become a commercial airline pilot. And 
historically, we have never been involved in training pilots 
because a lot of them came out of the military or through other 
sources. And now the demand that we have for pilots simply 
exceeds the supply. So we are starting our Aviate Academy, we 
have begun to start training pilots.
    But I don't know that we are going to be--you know, it is 
not what we have historically done. Our goal is to train 500 
pilots a year. That is, you know, we are going to be hiring 
2,000 to 3,000 a year. So it is even a small percentage of what 
we are hiring at United. And so I think we probably need 
something broader.
    You know, I, you know, as much as we like getting EAS money 
when we fly to markets, I would much rather take those funds 
and put them into the infrastructure to create training for 
pilots and to build a robust pipeline that makes it easy for 
people with an aptitude and a desire to be a commercial airline 
pilot to get the training, to get the skills that they need.
    You know, I would like to focus on giving them better 
training than they have gotten in the past so that they come 
out more like a military trained pilot than somebody who, you 
know, hasn't been through that path. And I think there is an 
opportunity to make our system safer, better, create great 
jobs, and fix the supply problem.
    But the supply problem isn't going to get fixed in the 
short term because it takes time to get through the process to 
become a commercial airline pilot.
    Senator Moran. So resources to support pilot education and 
training is your request?
    Mr. Kirby. Correct, yes.
    Senator Moran. Mr. Parker, anything?
    Mr. Parker. No, I agree. It is making more markets--EAS 
markets would take a scarce resource and move it to different 
markets. But the real point here is there is just not enough 
resources.
    Senator Moran. My question was, are there essential air 
service resources that could be devoted to creating the revenue 
necessary to educate pilots, not creating more essential 
operations?
    Mr. Parker. OK. Yes, I would agree that diverting to pilot 
training would be a great idea.
    Senator Moran. I got to run that by my communities, but it 
is a huge component to Kansas. We, other than Alaska, probably 
are the most essential air service state in the country and we 
appreciate the service you provide. Let me ask--well first of 
all, let me indicate to Ms. Nelson that I am a frequent flier 
and I have lots of contact with gate agents and with flight 
attendants.
    My experience pre and post COVID has been almost without 
exception nothing but tremendous care, compassion, 
professionalism by those who serve in those capacities. And I 
want to thank you and those you represent for the manner in 
which they have conducted themselves, certainly to me, but more 
importantly, to the flying public in very difficult and 
challenging times.
    Ms. Nelson. Thank you so much. Appreciate that so much, 
Senator Moran. And we love that you fly with us. And also, I 
would just note, I want to add to what was said here, the more 
that we can show the public that these jobs are for everyone in 
it, that they are for women, that they are for people of color, 
and then that we can give them the means to be able to get that 
training to get to it, we can actually increase the number of 
people who are willing to do this work. So I just wanted to add 
that as well. And thank you so much for your comments. We will 
share that with our members.
    Senator Moran. I am very complimentary. And I would again 
offer as others have done so any way that we can assist. I 
don't know anything about to go alcohol. I didn't know that was 
an option, but nothing is going to change my behavior----
    [Laugher.]
    Senator Moran. Now that I know----
    Ms. Nelson. Glad that you clarified that.
    Senator Moran. Alright. I am happy to try to help assist to 
reduce the friction that can occur as a result of that.
    Ms. Nelson. Thank you so much.
    Senator Moran. I appreciate, Mr. Laughter, the opportunity 
I had to visit Delta Airlines in Atlanta a few weeks ago. And I 
raised a couple of topics, although I mostly came there to 
listen, learn, but I checked with my airports. I would 
highlight for you the opportunity that Wichita, ICT, considers 
to fly to Salt Lake City, and would welcome that--it seemed 
like there was interest, but I would welcome any further 
conversation. I also want to thank you for the passenger 
lounge, the premium passenger lounge that you intend to build 
within the new airport in Kansas City. And why are you 
laughing? That is not for me.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Moran. But I am glad that you have chosen to assist 
in our new airport and its comforts and amenabilities. In 
addition to that, Southwest, I saw in the business journal, 
Kent City Business Journal, is going to pursue its 
sustainability efforts in Kansas City.
    And again, we welcome that further connection between 
Kansas City and Southwest. One of the bills that the Chairman 
of this committee was very helpful in seeing was passed is a 
bill that I introduced to provide assistance, the Aviation 
Manufacturing Jobs Protection Program designed to provide 
assistance to the workforce within those industries, those 
businesses that manufacture airplanes and its components. And I 
again thank the Chairwoman for her help in that accomplishment.
    But I want to make certain that it is known that the 
ability to build new airplanes is not just a manufacturing 
issue, it is an airline issue. And I would like to, if you 
wouldn't mind confirming that, assuming that that is true, what 
it means to you to be able to continue to access new aircraft, 
often built in Kansas.
    Mr. Parker. Right.
    The Chairwoman. And if you could answer quickly because he 
is over time--you can see that the subject of this hearing and 
your being here, which I think actually is the first time that 
we have had many of you here in almost a decade, that you can 
see that this committee has a lot of aviation issues, and I 
want to make sure all our colleagues get questions.
    Senator Moran. I am sorry, Chairwoman. I didn't realize I 
was over time.
    The Chairwoman. I know, but that is because I know how much 
you care about this issue, so----
    Senator Moran. You were saying nice things about the Chair 
too.
    The Chairwoman. Right, exactly. How manufacturing----
    Mr. Parker. I will try to do it real fast for all of us----
    The Chairwoman. Yes, thank you.
    Mr. Parker. Because I am sure we are all going to say the 
same thing. It is critical to us. Of course, we have to have 
airplanes. We appreciate your work in getting support into 
those companies. They needed it like we did, and they are 
crucial to what we do, so thank you.
    Mr. Kelly. Ditto. And I would just add that it is also a 
very significant part of our sustainability plan, which is to 
continue to modernize our fleet. The MAX is 14 percent more 
fuel efficient than the previous generation, so very important.
    Senator Moran. For the record, I would ask your plans in 
regard to the MAX, but I will take that for--in testimony.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you, Senator Moran, and thanks for 
working on the aviation manufacturing jobs bill with me, and I 
appreciate your leadership on it. And I do think it got money 
out to people in Kansas, particularly one of the big suppliers. 
So, Senator Markey.

               STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD MARKEY, 
                U.S. SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS

    Senator Markey. Thank you, Madam Chair. According to CBS 
News, the airline industry still owes fliers upwards of $20 
billion in refunds, which is simply unjust and immoral. That is 
why Senator Blumenthal, and I sent a letter to the Airline 
Industry Trade Association yesterday demanding once again that 
every airline provide immediate refunds for canceled flights 
during the pandemic.
    We have now made this appeal over and over again, yet the 
airlines refused to do the right thing. Will each of you commit 
to providing refunds for all tickets that were canceled due to 
the pandemic, regardless of whether you canceled the flight, or 
a passenger canceled in order to protect the health of a family 
member? Will you commit to refunding this money, yes or no? Mr. 
Parker.
    Mr. Parker. Senator, we have refunded $3.2 billion of cash 
refunds in 2020 alone. We did that for every flight that we 
canceled. For flights----
    Senator Markey. I am talking about the flights that 
passengers canceled because of their justifiable concern about 
the pandemic and the impact it was having on the air. Will you 
refund that fund--will you refund that money to passengers?
    Mr. Parker. You know, what you are asking about is a case 
where someone has bought a nonrefundable ticket, condition one. 
Condition two, the flight actually flew. So in which case, in 
that case we did make the extraordinary--as conditions----
    Senator Markey. Will you refund to passengers the money 
that they spent on a ticket that they canceled because they 
were afraid of the COVID risk to themselves or--will you refund 
that money, yes or no?
    Mr. Parker. In the case of a customer who bought a 
nonrefundable ticket, and the flight went and still didn't want 
to go, what we did is say, well, we are not going to force 
you--we are not going to make you have it be nonrefundable and 
keep your cash. We will give you a credit to use in the future 
to fly when you are comfortable flying, and that is where we 
are on those.
    Senator Markey. And will you--have you removed an 
expiration date on that ticket so that they can take it 
whenever they want in the future?
    Mr. Parker. In our case, we are up to March 31st, 2022, 
right now on the expiration. We moved that as the pandemic----
    Senator Markey. Will you commit to making it unlimited in 
terms of the expiration date? Will you commit to doing that?
    Mr. Parker. We want to make it--we want to--we want people 
to fly. I would encourage people to fly. We have moved the date 
as----
    Senator Markey. Again, I am still not getting the answers 
from the industry. The passengers want the money back and you 
are not saying you are going to give it to them. And at a 
minimum, they just want a voucher that they can use whenever 
they want to. They shouldn't have to worry that in order to get 
the cash that they have being used, that they have to jump on a 
flight in the next 3 months when the pandemic is now rising. 
And they shouldn't even have to worry about that.
    You should be giving them the voucher now so that they know 
they can use it for as--whenever they want, in whatever month 
or year that they want, whenever they feel safe with their 
family member. And you are still telling us today you will not 
give those families that kind of a guarantee. And that is 
unfortunately industry wide in terms of what the practice is.
    And I am just telling you for passengers in our country, 
they want fairness. They want to know that they are going to be 
treated in a way which is respectful. And I will also add this 
OK, the same thing is true with the fees, $30 for one bag, $40 
for a second, $150 for a third. Does it really cost $150 to put 
a bag on a plane? That is a rhetorical question, because 
obviously the answer is no. So time is brief, and I just want 
Ms. Nelson just to make this point.
    I am shocked that some of the CEOs here today have 
suggested that we no longer need mask mandates on planes. Ms. 
Nelson in the face of omicron, children under five who still 
cannot be vaccinated, thousands of flight attendants who 
protect us every day and that we still allow unvaccinated 
people on planes to fly in our country, do you believe that we 
should be lifting the mask mandate for people who are on planes 
in our country?
    Ms. Nelson. I believe that the Government has taken a very 
responsible approach to this and is moving the mask mandate as 
we have more information about the pandemic. And we agree that 
it should continue to stay in place. It is a workplace safety 
issue. Although I will be very clear that we do look forward to 
the day that we can vaccinate the entire world and get on with 
this and not have to have the mask mandate.
    We do need a consistent message, though, and it troubles me 
to hear different messages. And I would hope that we would all 
stay on the same message that we are going to follow the 
medical experts and we are going to do what is necessary to 
keep everyone safe.
    Senator Markey. Yes. Well, right now there are tens of 
thousands of people flying who are unvaccinated today on planes 
in the United States, and it is unfair to people who are 
vaccinated to have them sitting next to them with their masks 
off. It would be wrong. It would be immoral to ever take that 
position. People are petrified the airlines won't even 
reimburse people who have canceled the flight because they are 
afraid to fly because they could be endangering themselves or 
their family members with coronavirus. And from my perspective, 
it is absolutely unacceptable.
    Ms. Nelson. Senator Markey, I would also just add that we 
have heard from around the world that the confidence in air 
travel, because of what has been communicated, the controlled 
circumstances including everyone having to wear masks is why 
people have confidence in buying their air tickets today.
    Senator Markey. And we should continue to build that 
confidence. And I just want, just to finish up with you, Ms. 
Nelson, I just want to make it clear my support of the need to 
do more to put an end to passengers who threaten and assault 
flight attendants in our country. It is absolutely an epidemic 
and we have to take the strongest possible action at the 
Federal level in order to put it to an end. Thank you for your 
leadership on that issue.
    Ms. Nelson. Thank you so much.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you, Senator Markey. Senator 
Blackburn.

              STATEMENT OF HON. MARSHA BLACKBURN, 
                  U.S. SENATOR FROM TENNESSEE

    Senator Blackburn. Thank you, Madam Chairman. And thank you 
to each of you for being here today. As you can see, there is a 
wide range of issues that people are concerned about. Mr. 
Kirby, I want to come to you first. In November, Bloomberg 
published a piece on how United Airlines is leading the charge 
on implementing President Biden's unconstitutional vaccine 
mandate.
    U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman stated that you expressed, 
and I am quoting, ``skepticism and apparent disdain for any 
religiously motivated exemption request.'' So what we are 
finding out, and I have got a Tennessean that is in this group, 
I represent the State of Tennessee, that there are individuals 
that were denied, that all of your religious exemptions were 
denied.
    So we are also finding out about their pay having been cut 
at the time that that exemption was filed. So before they filed 
the exemption, did you inform these workers that they were not 
going to be paid even if they applied for a religious 
exemption?
    Mr. Kirby. Well, thank you, Senator. And first, we did 
implement a vaccine requirement at United Airlines. We did it 
in August before there were any Federal, State, before there 
are any requirements from anyone, one direction or the other.
    We did it purely as the right thing to do for safety, and I 
am happy to explain why if you would like, but we did it purely 
for safety and did it well before any Federal requirements. We, 
I think you got some perhaps incorrect information. We accepted 
about 80 percent of the religious requests. So 80 percent of 
the religious requests were accepted.
    Senator Blackburn. OK, but the other 20 percent that you 
did not accept, were they made aware that they would not be 
paid even though they were working while their request was 
being considered, that they would not be paid when that was 
denied?
    Mr. Kirby. So we notified people--anyone whose request, the 
20 percent who did not get a religious exemption, we gave them 
notification and gave them approximately 35 days from that date 
to get vaccinated if they wanted to, and they were fully paid 
for that entire time. And to my knowledge, almost all of them 
chose to get vaccinated----
    Senator Blackburn. OK, so how many people are, how many 
employees were fired because of this, and then how much money 
did they lose? Do you want to clarify that for the record?
    Mr. Kirby. So we got 99.7 percent of our employees 
vaccinated, which for a workforce in the United States of just 
under 70,000, means that about 200 people chose to leave the 
company.
    Senator Blackburn. About 200, OK. Alright. Well, it seems 
like you are all talking about needing employees, so it seems 
like you also would be able to find a workaround on this for 
people who either have had COVID, don't want the vaccine, or 
cannot take the vaccine. I have talked to so many people who 
medically have been advised to not get vaccinated because they 
have a complex medical issue.
    So it seems like you all could find a workaround on this. I 
want to talk to each of you about what is happening with 5G 
implementation because we had six former Chairs of the FCC that 
sent a letter to Chairman Rosenworcel and the NTIA's Acting 
Administrator regarding their concerns with the FAA's decision 
to delay 5G implementation.
    And at the end of the letter, the Chairs, and I am quoting, 
``encourage all stakeholders to work together toward a speedy 
resolution of the issues in this band and to ensure these 
surprises do not become a recurring feature of American 
spectrum management in the future. The recent decision 
undermines America's efforts to remain a leader in 5G.'' And of 
course, we are looking at what is happening with China, with 
their Belt and Road Initiative, with great power competition.
    And so we are quite concerned about this. Mr. Laughter, I 
want to come to you on this, because it is my understanding 
that Delta has invested heavily in 5G for security. So we would 
hope that you all are looking for a path forward to work not 
only with us, but with regulators on the deployment of 5G and 
making certain that it is not delayed.
    Mr. Laughter. Well, Senator, thank you. And I can't speak 
specifically to any investment in 5G. I do know that the safety 
concerns with aircraft and aviation are very real. And I also 
know that there is a solution here. We have seen it in other 
countries as they have implemented 5G, and with a combination 
of power adjustments and location, we could absolutely solve 
this and live in a world where there is 5G available.
    Senator Blackburn. There are 39 countries that have 
implemented 5G and have had no issues that we are aware of. 
Have any of you, any of you on the panel, experienced any 
issues or problems with 5G?
    Mr. Kelly. No, but I think if you were to ask us what our 
number one concern is here in the near term, it is the 
deployment of 5G because the FAA has issued an airworthiness 
directive that would significantly impact our operations once 
it is deployed on January 5.
    So that is the essence of the concern. It is not an airline 
concern, per se. The FAA is uncomfortable with the safety risk. 
And as a consequence, the impact on our operations to mitigate 
that would be a significant setback.
    Senator Blackburn. Seems like we could find a workaround on 
this. I am over time, but I appreciate that, and we will 
continue the conversation on the issue. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you for bringing that issue up. 
Senator Blumenthal.

             STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, 
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM CONNECTICUT

    Senator Blumenthal. Thanks, Madam Chair. Welcome to all of 
you. Thanks for being here. I think like all my colleagues 
here, I am very happy to be flying again. And within the past 
month or so I have flown, I think all of your airlines. And I 
don't need to tell you that there are a lot of Americans who 
are still unhappy.
    And the reason they are unhappier is the continued fees and 
charges for checked bags, carry-on bags, all kinds of other 
things that they used to receive for free and are charged now 
without any parent relation to the cost of what they do. So I 
have led introduction of the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, 
and I would be happy to talk about the details.
    It essentially speaks to problems related to overbook 
planes, delayed flights, lost luggage, in effect protects 
consumers against those charges and fees and cancellations and 
delays that they feel violate their essential rights. I would 
like your commitment that you will support a bill of rights. It 
may not be exactly what I proposed. For example, my bill would 
essentially crack down on airlines using weather as an excuse 
for delays and cancellations that may be the airline's fault.
    And not a moral fault, but if there is lack of planning, 
the one who bears the burden ought to be the airline, not the 
passenger. It would also provide--require airlines to provide 
ticket refunds and alternative transportation for flights that 
are delayed 4 hours or so.
    Again, clear enforceable rights. Maybe not exactly those 
provisions, but I hope that you are familiar with the basic 
provisions of the bill. Will you support that measure? Let me 
just ask you, beginning with you, Mr. Parker.
    Mr. Parker. We obviously care deeply about our customers. 
We want to make sure that--we, like you, want to make sure that 
our customers are taken care of. We would like to not have to 
even have it legislated. We think we do a nice job, but 
certainly will--certainly we are certainly willing to work on--
certainly willing to work with you.
    Senator Blumenthal. I apologize for interrupting but my 
time is limited.
    Mr. Parker. Alright. Certainly want to work with you, sir.
    Senator Blumenthal. Mr. Kelly.
    Mr. Kelly. I think what--you know, the industry was 
deregulated. What we are in favor of is competition and we are 
pro-consumer. We do not charge bag fees, we don't charge change 
fees, we don't charge a fee to use your frequent flier, we 
don't charge carry-on bag fees.
    Senator Blumenthal. So I assume you would want a level 
playing field, you will be supporting that bill of rights?
    Mr. Kelly. We would simply like the opportunity to compete. 
And that is the way we compete. If our competitors want to 
charge those fees, they have the right to do that under 
deregulation, and we would support that going forward.
    Senator Blumenthal. Will you work with me on a bill of 
rights?
    Mr. Kelly. We are very pro-consumer. What I think would be 
very helpful is full disclosure and transparency and that kind 
of a requirement across the board, not just for airlines but 
also for online travel agencies, I think would be very 
welcomed.
    Senator Blumenthal. Good idea. It is part of the bill of 
rights. Mr. Kirby.
    Mr. Kirby. Thank you, Senator. And we are really proud at 
United of changes that we have made to improve the customer 
experience. Thank you for flying again. I am doing a lot of 
flying. It is great to be out seeing people again. But we are 
really proud of everything--you know, permanently eliminating 
change fees during the pandemic. We copied a good idea that our 
friends in Southwest had had for a long time. Huge investments 
in the product. Huge investments in customer service. Our net 
promoter scores are at a level we never even thought possible 
in the next decade.
    And that is really important. And we are focused on trying 
to win customers by quality and give them choices. And so I 
don't think we will agree with everything you have in the bill. 
We are certainly happy to work with you. I would tell you one 
thing that is important is our complaint rates from online 
travel agencies are about 10 times as high as they are 
internally.
    It is because when we--when we interact directly with the 
customer, we try to tell that we are trying to be as 
transparent as possible about what is happening. But that is 
not true at third parties when they sell tickets on airlines.
    And anything we can do to get the same level of 
transparency through third parties as we have ourselves, we 
would be very happy to help you with.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you.
    Mr. Laughter. Senator, I would add that we are also pro-
consumer and look forward to adding to things----
    Senator Blumenthal. You are pro-consumer and pro-
competition----
    Mr. Laughter. Pro-consumer and pro competition and look 
forward to continuing things like eliminating change fees. We 
have made very public our ambition to make Wi-Fi free for all 
on Delta, and we are working toward that goal, and we would 
certainly want to work with you and talk to you further about 
this.
    Senator Blumenthal. Ms. Nelson, I would ask you this 
question, but I just want to preface by saying, first of all, I 
really appreciate your strong support for the PSP. I am very 
proud to have worked with you on it. I think the flight 
attendants, in fact, are the unsung heroes of this pandemic, 
literally.
    Every time I get on a plane, I thank the flight attendants 
and I thank the pilots because they have been on duty working 
at the forefront, and I hope that they will be supported by a 
bill of rights as well.
    Ms. Nelson. They will, and we are very happy that we can 
talk about these things because of the PSP. You made it 
possible for us to continue to talk about how we can improve 
the industry as opposed to going into a long, dire cost-cutting 
scenario like we did after 9/11. So thank you very much.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. I will just close by saying 
I am proud to have supported that $54 billion. I tried to help 
lead the effort, but I think it creates a trust on your part 
that you will be forthcoming, and I hope you will work on a 
bill of rights.
    And I hope, also I will just ask this question for the 
record, would you tell me how much in your estimate you owe in 
refunds for canceled flights during this period? Obviously, my 
colleague, Senator Markey and I have written to you about this 
question. He mentioned $20 billion in total. I would like to 
know what amount, if any, you owe for those canceled flights 
during that period.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you. Thank you. Senator Cruz.

                  STATEMENT OF HON. TED CRUZ, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM TEXAS

    Senator Cruz. Thank you, Madam Chair. Welcome to each of 
the witnesses. As a number of Senators have observed last year, 
what Congress did with regard to the aviation industry was 
critical, and it was unprecedented. We allocated over $54 
billion to keep the American aviation industry strong and 
healthy.
    I was the Chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee at the 
time. Each of the CEOs on this panel and Ms. Nelson, I have 
spoken to all of you many times. Each of you went on a great 
length making the case that maintaining our pilots, maintaining 
our flight attendants, maintaining our personnel in aviation 
was critically important.
    We fast forward to where we are today, and we find 
ourselves in a different circumstance. And the behavior of 
airlines has not been uniform. I am proud to say the two 
airlines based in Texas, Mr. Kelly's airline and Mr. Parker's 
airline, I think have been exemplary, particularly concerning 
vaccine mandates.
    Both of you have made public commitments that you will not 
be firing your employees because of failure to comply with the 
vaccine mandates, and I thank you for that. Mr. Bastian has 
likewise made that commitment at Delta. The outlier here is 
United. And Mr. Kirby, United's behavior on this issue, I have 
to say, has been deeply disturbing. I am a frequent customer of 
United. I live in Houston. I have got over a million miles on 
United.
    There are over 14,000 United employees in the state of 
Texas, and the way United has treated its employees is in 
marked contrast to your competitors sitting here. Your 
competitors have said they will stand with their employees. 
United has not made that same commitment.
    How many pilots has United fired because of failure to 
comply with the vaccine mandate?
    Mr. Kirby. Well, Senator, I am happy to talk to all about 
the rationale for why we did it. We did it for safety.
    Senator Cruz. I have a limited time, so my question is how 
many pilots have you fired?
    Mr. Kirby. I believe it is 6 out of 13,000.
    Senator Cruz. And how many pilots have you placed on unpaid 
leave?
    Mr. Kirby. I think it is about 80.
    Senator Cruz. OK. How many flight attendants have you 
fired?
    Mr. Kirby. I don't know the number. In total, it is about 
200 employees.
    Senator Cruz. Well, I will tell you, I spoke this morning 
to the Airline Employees for Health Freedom that said they had 
over 2,000 United employees who had been placed on unpaid leave 
because they sought exemptions from the vaccine mandate.
    They said that included 331 pilots.
    I will also note that I have been literally inundated with 
United employees complaining about United's callous disregard 
for the rights of the pilots. One of the messages was for a 
pilot who flew for United for more than two decades, who 
applied for and received an exemption from your vaccine mandate 
on religious grounds and was subsequently placed on leave with 
no pay and no benefits, including no medical insurance.
    Now his wife, who relies on her husband's insurance, has 
had to postpone a necessary surgery with no idea when she will 
be able to reschedule because she has no idea when her husband 
would be able to fly again. And you are simultaneously 
enforcing a non-compete so this pilot can't even go work for 
your competitors.
    Another message I received from another pilot, a 
constituent self-described proud Texan, flew for the Air Force 
for almost three decades, including missions in Asia, now finds 
himself on indefinite unpaid leave with a denial of all 
benefits to include medical, dental, vision insurance, 
disability travel privileges, crew member access to jump seat, 
denied access to his retirement savings.
    This morning I spoke with a 10 year flight attendant for 
United.
    A woman name is Adriana Ubali, who is a single mom, a 
Hispanic single mom from Texas who you fired. She received her 
termination notice tied in a trash can to her front gate.
    I have a letter here, Madam Chairman, from Ms. Ubali 
describing the disgraceful treatment she received at the hands 
of United. I ask unanimous consent this record to be entered--
this letter be entered into the record.
    The Chairwoman. Without objection.
    [The information referred to was unavailable at time of 
printing.]
    Senator Cruz. Just recently, you are being sued by your 
employees for mistreating them, for violating their terms of 
employment. Just recently, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals 
Judge James Ho, someone I know very well, an exemplary jurist, 
wrote an opinion in which she described the likelihood of your 
employee succeeding on the merits as the claims against you 
quote, ``appear compelling and convincing at this stage.''
    And I want to read what Judge Ho wrote about United: 
``Title VII forbids employers from retaliating against 
employees who attempt to exercise their statutory rights.'' Yet 
United CEO Scott Kirby told employees in a company town hall 
meeting that quote, ``very few religious exemptions to the 
vaccine mandate would be granted'' and that anyone who even 
attempted to request one would be quote, ``putting their job on 
the line.'' I saw that video and it is a disturbing video.
    He went on to note, this is again Judge Ho writing, ``the 
District Court thus concluded that United's mandate reflects an 
apathy, if not antipathy, for many of its employees concerns 
and a dearth of toleration for those expressing a diversity of 
thought through both its policy and its official statements to 
employees.'' United has demonstrated a ``callous approach to 
and apparent disdain for people of faith.''
    Why is United's conduct disregarding the rights of your 
employees so different from the conduct of your competitor 
airlines, which are protecting the rights of their pilots and 
flight attendants and not firing them or putting them on unpaid 
leave for exercising their religious liberty rights?
    Mr. Kirby. Well, Senator Cruz, again, we did this for 
safety. We believe it saved lives. I think that is my number 
one obligation is safety, particularly running an airline.
    Senator Cruz. You have an obligation to your customers?
    Mr. Kirby. My number one obligation is safety, including to 
our customers----
    Senator Cruz. Are your competitors unsafe?
    Mr. Kirby. I think that the world is safer for us. I made 
the decision for United. I will let my competitor speak for 
themselves. I made the decision for United that getting 
everyone vaccinated would save lives and----
    Senator Cruz. Mr. Kirby, I will tell you--my time has 
expired, but I will tell you this. I fly United, I fly almost 
every week. Almost without exception, when I am on one of your 
flights, I get stopped by a pilot or a flight attendant, often 
multiple pilots or multiple flight attendants who say thank you 
for fighting for us. Your employees are being mistreated and it 
is disappointing. Your company is better than this and what you 
are doing is wrong.
    The Chairwoman. Senator Peters.

                STATEMENT OF HON. GARY PETERS, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM MICHIGAN

    Senator Peters. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you for 
all of you for being here today. Before I ask my questions, I 
just hope everybody in this country actually gets a vaccine. I 
am absolutely tired of this pandemic. I am tired of what we are 
dealing with. We have a tool that works. It is safe, it is 
effective.
    And if people take a vaccine, we can get through this. No 
one has a right to spread a disease around and get other people 
sick. Get a vaccine. Please, let's focus on that. But anyway, 
let me get back to my questions here. Mr. Laughter, clearly, it 
is essential that the economy can provide good paying jobs for 
everybody who wants one.
    The aviation industry offers an awful lot of really great 
opportunities for folks to earn a good living, support their 
families, and oftentimes they don't need a college degree in 
order to get these great jobs. And we have to make sure that 
future generations are able to take advantage of those 
opportunities that are out there. I understand that Delta is 
pursuing a skills first hiring approach that is based on 
candidates not having or not based rather on folks having a 4-
year degree.
    Could you tell this committee more about the Delta program 
and how we can open up even more careers in the aviation 
industry, perhaps providing skills training? And fact, in the 
Build Back Better plan, there are significant investments in 
skills training. I understand their jobs that are available for 
people.
    We need to fill those jobs, but some specific skills 
training is absolutely critical. Clearly, you are leaning into 
that. If you could tell the Committee how we could be of help 
would be great?
    Mr. Laughter. Well, Senator, thank you for that opportunity 
to talk about jobs, opening the aperture, and creating more and 
more opportunity at Delta across many different parts of the 
company.
    You know, the place that is easiest to talk about is what 
we are doing with our own internal pilot program, it is called 
Propel, and it is specifically driven to allow not only 
internal candidates to express--internal non-pilot candidates 
to express desire to learn to fly and to be part of our pilot 
group. And along with that comes various guidance and mentoring 
and direction into different programs, but it also partners 
with colleges and universities across the country.
    And its goal is again to open the aperture and to make 
aviation, particularly technical careers, more available to 
others. We have recently changed as many of our jobs as we 
could from college degree required to preferred, and that in 
and of itself removes a hurdle for many people. So lots of 
different opportunities to do that across the system.
    Senator Peters. Well, that is great. We would love to work 
with you as we try to expand that throughout a variety of 
industries as well to create opportunities for people. Mr. 
Parker, in your written testimony, you noted that airfares have 
declined to the lowest level since the late 1990s, which is 
certainly an example of prices dropping and enhancing value for 
your customers.
    And as we think back what this, what we had to do in order 
to keep the aviation industry going during the pandemic with 
the Payroll Support Program. Clearly, I would think without 
that program, it would have been devastating to the industry 
and probably would have perhaps led to further consolidations 
in industry, less competition, and perhaps even rising prices.
    Could you talk a little bit about how important that 
program was, and did it indeed help keep prices down for 
consumers?
    Mr. Parker. Absolutely. Thanks for asking. As I stated in 
my written testimony, while there was a lot of support for the 
airline business right at the start of the pandemic, there was 
a suggestion that perhaps we should just get it in loans. And 
as we wrote in our testimony, had that happened, we would--
obviously we would have taken it as companies. But the right 
thing for us to do when given loans is to make sure we are 
doing everything we can to be sure to repay those loans.
    With no demand, I can't speak for everyone, but I am 
certain most all of us would have shut down our airlines, 
furloughed everyone, waited for demand to return. As it turns 
out, that was probably going to be after the vaccines came out 
in early 2021, before we started flying again. It would have 
been cataclysmic to employment. It would have been cataclysmic 
to our companies.
    I don't know how long we could have survived just spending 
nothing and producing no revenues. But there would have been 
obviously a huge problem for the country as well. Because 
instead PSP was used as the program instead of loans, because 
we were paid to pay our people, because we made commitments to 
continue service to every market, we made commitments to not 
furlough, to not voluntarily separate anyone, we kept the 
airlines flying, and as demand has returned, we are here.
    So unlike other businesses where you see inflation, that 
are not able to actually meet demand, so prices rise, we are 
actually--we have more supply than there is demand still, and 
as a result, certainly for, you know, without business 
customers, et cetera, what you are seeing is prices falling and 
it is--anyway, it has had that effect.
    Prices are absolutely down. I don't know where they would 
be if we were flying an airline industry still without PSP, but 
with certainty, because we have it, fares are much lower than 
they would have been otherwise.
    Senator Peters. Well, that is great to hear, and our focus 
has to be to continue to help American families keep costs 
down, reduce their costs. And just one final question related 
to Mr. Kirby. Earlier in the hearing, you mentioned that 
airports' financial health has ramifications for air carriers 
and the cost of airfares.
    As all of you know, we passed a significant infrastructure 
package that will make investments in our airports. Could you 
comment as to how those investments will also impact hopefully 
the cost to--lower costs to consumers going forward and why we 
need to make those investments to lower costs?
    Mr. Kirby. Well, thank you and thank you for the bipartisan 
effort to pass the infrastructure bill. It is really important 
to the whole country, not just aviation, to the whole country, 
and our competitiveness around the world. But as you know, many 
of our airports have not had significant investments. We 
haven't built new airports.
    I think Denver is the last big new airport that we built 20 
something years ago in this country. We are not going to start 
building new airports, but we need to update the infrastructure 
at those airports. You fly, you know, here in Washington, you 
go out to Dulles, there is a temporary terminal that was built 
to be temporary 30 something years ago.
    And that is not the right thing for our economic 
competitiveness for our status as a nation. So we are excited 
to have these investments in airports like Dallas or Chicago, 
O'Hare, and lots of others as a way to modernize and improve 
the system.
    Senator Peters. Well, thank you. I appreciate that list of 
airports. Include Detroit next time.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Peters. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam 
Chair.
    The Chairwoman. Senator Young. Hold on, Senator Young. I 
don't know that we have your audio. Try again.

                 STATEMENT OF HON. TODD YOUNG, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM INDIANA

    Senator Young. Can you hear me?
    The Chairwoman. Yes.
    Senator Young. Can you see we can see me?
    The Chairwoman. We can see you and hear you.
    Senator Young. Fantastic. My apologies. So gentlemen, I 
will begin with a 5G aviation issue. Indiana was an early 
adopter of 5G, and new next generation wireless services will 
result in significant benefits for my state. We need to make 
sure that any event or claim that will slow the deployment of 
5G is based in sound science and facts.
    We have countries around the globe that are using the same 
spectrum as the C-band for 5G, and we aren't seeing any issues 
with aviation. We need to reconcile the aviation concerns 
contained in a single study with what is actually happening on 
the ground in the real world.
    So I ask each of our four airline executives to kindly 
answer me yes or no to this response. If you can't answer yes 
or no, we will have to follow up later. But it is my hope you 
will answer yes or no. Mr. Kelly, will you commit to work to 
resolve the issue that I have just discussed as quickly as 
possible, yes or no?
    Mr. Kelly. Yes. And again, this is an issue that was raised 
by the FAA----
    Senator Young. Thank you, sir. Mr. Kirby, will you commit 
to resolve this issue as quickly as possible? Yes or no, sir?
    Mr. Kirby. Senator, this is the biggest and most damaging 
potential issue facing us. We want nothing more than to work to 
a solution.
    Senator Young. Yes. Alright. I will take that as a yes. 
Thank you. Mr. Parker, yes or no? You have heard the question?
    Mr. Parker. Yes. With the emphasis on the fact that, 
please, Senator, that it doesn't result in constraining air 
travel.
    Senator Young. We will discuss later. Mr. Laughter, yes or 
no?
    Mr. Laughter. Senator, yes. I would say, as Mr. Kirby said, 
the biggest issue facing us right now. We need to work together 
to resolve this.
    Senator Young. Excellent. Thank you so much, gentlemen. 
Turning to the Payroll Support Program. As many of us know, in 
April 2020, passenger traffic for U.S. airlines plummeted over 
95 percent compared to the prior year. That is quite the 
spiral. At that time, we had no idea what the pandemic had in 
store for us, and over the next year and a half, we took the 
action we needed to in short order, in a bipartisan fashion to 
help the U.S. airline industry employees keep their jobs.
    Payroll Support Program, or PSP, was what we pulled 
together to solve this unprecedented situation and ensure our 
airline employees stayed on the payroll and to ensure the 
airlines that are a central piece of our transportation system 
were able to stay above water and make it through this 
devastating situation.
    We are sitting here in December 2021, coming off a period 
of highly successful Thanksgiving air travel. And I think it is 
safe to say the PSP was a very effective response to this 
unprecedented crisis. The program helped the U.S. airline 
employees get through the toughest months and years in the 
industry's history. We are seeing those dividends pay off.
    As Americans choose to return to normal life and travel for 
business and personal reasons, they are going to find U.S. 
airlines and airline employees there to help them get from A to 
B.
    Can each of you discuss, in summary fashion, PSP's impact 
on your respective airline, and how the overall industry would 
be different today if this program had not been established?
    Mr. Parker. Sure. Senator, Doug Parker. First off, thank 
you for your support, your bipartisan--your help in creating 
bipartisan support was integral to getting it done. Without it, 
I do--I don't know what would have happened to our industry.
    It would have been cataclysmic. We wouldn't be flying 
nearly what we are flying today. I think we wouldn't have been 
flying hardly any--very much at all during 2020. And you saved 
a business industry, and I think it made an enormous impact on 
our ability to keep this economy moving, so thank you.
    Senator Young. Thank you, sir.
    Mr. Kelly. Senator, just to add my thanks as well. And yes, 
the PSP did what it was designed to do. It preserved jobs, and 
those jobs enabled us to continue serving our customers and our 
communities. Demand is now back, and we are in a position where 
we can take people where they want to go. So it has been a huge 
success, and again, very, very grateful for your support.
    Senator Young. Thank you.
    Mr. Kirby. Senator, it was enormously successful and thank 
you and thank you to everyone on a bipartisan basis that 
supported it. The industry wouldn't, not only--we wouldn't 
exist, anything like it does today, had this not happened. And 
it is not just about the industry, it is about all the millions 
of jobs that we support that are dependent on connectivity and 
aviation and getting people from point A to B. And so this was 
not only about saving the aviation industry, it was about 
saving an industry that is a critical cog of the U.S. and the 
global economy.
    Mr. Laughter. And Senator, I will add my thanks to the 
Congress in the U.S. taxpayer for making sure that we were able 
to preserve tens of thousands of jobs and make sure that we are 
in a position to recover in the airline industry and keep 
things moving as the economy recovers.
    Senator Young. Thank you, gentlemen. Chairman.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you. Senator Sinema. Is Senator 
Sinema available? Senator Scott.

                 STATEMENT OF HON. RICK SCOTT, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA

    Senator Scott. Thank you, Chair Cantwell, and thank you for 
holding this hearing. I would like to start with Mr. Kirby. I 
want to follow up with what Senator Cruz brought up. Do you 
respect your employees' religious beliefs?
    Mr. Kirby. Absolutely.
    Senator Scott. You think it is, do--so here is what I am 
hearing. I am hearing the same thing in Florida. You have got a 
lot of people that work for your company many, many years, and 
they have been placed on unpaid leave after being granted a 
religious exemption to the vaccine mandate.
    Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment 
discrimination based on religion, yet your companies place 
employees who declined to receive the COVID vaccine based on 
their sincerely held religious beliefs on unpaid leave. So, 
number one, if you respect their religious beliefs, how can you 
just put somebody out of work?
    On top of that, do you believe you are currently in 
compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act?
    Mr. Kirby. So first, Senator, I think it is important to 
explain our policy, actually, which is we have offered everyone 
an accommodation where they can still work in an area where 
they are not interacting with customers and people frequently. 
So for many--we have had about 2,000 employees that have either 
a medical or religious exemption.
    The majority of those are working in positions like agent 
on demand, where they work virtually, on the ramp, where they 
are outside and don't work with other customers. And we are 
letting people do that. They have to test and there is a bunch 
of strict requirements around testing. So we are doing that.
    The exception to that is in places where they are with 
other employees, and they are with customers. So customer 
facing roles. Other biggest area are pilots and flight 
attendants, and we will let them take one of the other jobs. 
But if they want to be pilots or flight attendants, and the 
flip side of this equation is safety is our number one 
priority. We absolutely respect their religious rights, but 
safety is our number one priority.
    And if you are going to be sitting in a cockpit with 
someone, and not just in the cockpit, if you are going to spend 
4 days with that person traveling to and from the crew bus at 
night and having breakfast with them and dinner with them, the 
safety of the employees that they work with also comes to bear 
and comes to mind.
    And so that is the reason. And we look forward to the day 
when the COVID pandemic is enough in the rearview mirror that 
everyone can return to work vaccinated or unvaccinated. But 
until they can do that safely and safely, for all the 
employees, that is the accommodation that they have--they can't 
work in those customer facing jobs like pilots or flight 
attendants, and that we absolutely are compliant with all the 
legal requirements.
    Senator Scott. So why couldn't you just make them test 
every day? I mean, other companies are doing this. I mean, you 
are not the only company doing this. It is not just the airline 
industry. I mean, you can buy, you know, tests pretty cheaply 
now.
    Mr. Kirby. Yes, Senator. It is not about expense. It really 
is about safety. And you know, aviation has a history of being, 
I would say, two standard deviations better on safety than any 
other industry. And at United, that is core to our DNA, and we 
just don't compromise on safety.
    When we had an issue with our 777, 52 widebody airplanes 
with an engine issue, we voluntarily grounded the entire fleet. 
I mean, that is a massively expensive decision to make, but we 
did it for safety because it is the right thing to do. And that 
is our, not just our North Star, it is the only star that 
guides us on our vaccine policies is about safety.
    And there is--testing is good, but it is not as good as 
someone being vaccinated because you have a point in time, even 
if you even if you are testing every day, where you can infect 
someone else before you show up positive. And these are people 
that were with each other literally for days in a row.
    And because we don't compromise on safety, those--we have 
done everything we can to find opportunities for them, but 
those kinds of places where they have to be around other 
customers and each other for multiple days, we are not allowing 
that because of safety.
    Senator Scott. Have you ever lost your job?
    Mr. Kirby. I have.
    Senator Scott. And how did it feel?
    Mr. Kirby. I was really angry.
    Senator Scott. All of us up here, we are fiduciary to the 
taxpayer. We gave your industry $54 billion, and we didn't do 
it for every industry. There are a lot of small businesses that 
didn't get a dime. And you guys did. You got a lot of money.
    So, can each of you tell us, are we going to get a return? 
Are the taxpayers of this country, when you think about you 
guys all entered into an agreement with the U.S. Treasury. Are 
we going to make money of this investment because we are a 
fiduciary, that is our job?
    Mr. Kirby. I guess I will start since I am on the mic. I 
think the country is already getting the return. The return is 
less a financial return of buying a stock and having it go up. 
The return is about what we do for the U.S. economy, what we 
did for humanitarian relief efforts carrying hundreds of 
millions of vaccines, supporting relief efforts at the 
beginning of the pandemic, bringing 13,000 refugees home from 
Afghanistan, repatriating 18,000 Americans that got stranded 
overseas. The return is what we do for the economy.
    Senator Scott. Did you get paid for that, those flights?
    Mr. Kirby. Some of those we did. But many of them--most of 
those flew, especially the, you know, repatriation flights and 
things flew at losses because there weren't enough passengers.
    A lot of those were just commercial airline passengers, and 
we have lost--it is hard to add up billions of dollars in the 
last year and a half doing those kinds of things. But what you 
did was allowed us to keep flying and keeping those airlines 
alive. We weren't making money on them. But the support that we 
got from Congress, and thank you for it, allowed us to keep 
those bridges intact and we could do it because you were 
helping fund it.
    Senator Scott. Mr. Parker.
    Mr. Parker. Yes, and I would just remind you that the $54 
billion was 30 percent in loans, so that is being--that will be 
repaid.
    The reason is 30 percent of loans because it was an 
analysis done by the Treasury Department at the time that said 
70 percent of what was given to us could be directly saved in a 
combination of reduction in unemployment, reduction in 
Medicare, et cetera, and plus what the U.S. Government would 
have to spend to actually move people around.
    So I feel, I would welcome a post audit of this. I think 
the U.S. Government has done extremely well. I am proud of 
that. We owe that to the taxpayers. But I would encourage the 
Committee to ask for a post audit of that. I think you will be 
very pleased with the results.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you--Senator Rosen. Senator Rosen.

                STATEMENT OF HON. JACKY ROSEN, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA

    Senator Rosen. Thank you, Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member 
Wicker, if you are there. I can't see anyone on the camera 
today, so thanking you both, but we really thank you for 
holding this important oversight hearing of the U.S. airline 
industry. I appreciate all the witnesses for being here today. 
As Chair of this committee, Subcommittee for Tourism, Trade, 
and Export Promotion, I have worked to find bipartisan pathways 
and solutions to bring travel and the travel and tourism 
industry back to its pre-pandemic prosperity.
    I have been especially proud of the collaborative work this 
committee has done to help workers in those industries. And 
before I get to my questions and since we are on the topic of 
air travel, I want to recognize yesterday's renaming of the Las 
Vegas airport, which I am now so proud to be able to call the 
Harry Reid International Airport.
    It is one of the busiest airports in the world. It is a 
gateway to Nevada's tourism economy. It is a wonderful way to 
honor, mentor and friend, a former Senate Majority Leader, 
Harry Reid. But I would like to really talk about how the 
airlines are going to prepare to meet the increasing demand for 
air travel, which I am glad to say is coming back. So in July 
of this year, Reno Tahoe Airport, the second largest airport in 
Nevada, faces a severe shortage of jet fuel available for 
aircraft flying out of the airport.
    This was potentially catastrophic. It is an issue that 
could have adversely impacted tens of thousands of travelers 
coming to and from Nevada, and we risk delays in vital cargo 
coming to our state--since learning that jet fuel shipments are 
based on travel trends from the previous year to decide how 
much jet fuel and space they need to purchase in order to meet 
the current demand.
    The 2020 demand was artificially low as we dealt with the 
unpredictability of a global pandemic, and we all know that air 
travel was completely halted in some instances. As such, the 
data and air travel trends for 2020 is not a reliable gauge for 
predicting air travel in 2021 or the jet fuel that will 
actually be necessary to meet these increasing demands. 
Fortunately, my office, in partnership with the airport in the 
impacted airlines, we did work together to manage the 
situation.
    However, I believe we have to be better prepared and to 
face a similar situations going forward if we are trying to 
base anything on those 2020 numbers. Normally, you can rely on 
a past year's data, but in this case we might be better to rely 
on 2019 data versus 2020. So to the airline representatives 
today, could each of you please briefly discuss what your 
airlines are doing to ensure you have sufficient jet supply 
fuel to meet demand for travel in 2022, which may very well 
significantly increase or exceed the travel in 2021?
    And can you discuss a little bit about how you make 
predictions for future air travel demand generally now, given 
the 2020 was a statistical anomaly? So Mr. Kelly, we can start 
with you and go on to Mr. Parker, Mr. Kirby, and then Mr. 
Laughter, please.
    Mr. Kelly. Thank you, Senator, and great to see you. And we 
very much appreciate your help last summer. That was definitely 
a very stressful situation. Well, I think, first of all, we 
appreciate your help and working with the FERC to try to 
address what is obviously a deficiency in the way the pipeline 
and allocations are performed.
    So that may require a legislative fix, quite frankly, so we 
will need to continue to work on that. But all of us do 
predictions of future traffic. We produce schedules. Our 
schedule is published out through June the 4th, as an example, 
in 2022, so we know by location how many flights we will have, 
what kind of fuel requirements we have. We have a team of 
people that goes out and procures the necessary quantities by 
location.
    Not all airports have pipeline access. And in that regard, 
trucks are the primary means of bringing fuel in. And then we 
also work on storage needs, as far as jet fuel goes, on an 
airport by airport basis. We have talked this afternoon about 
personnel shortages across the country in various sectors, and 
we all read about truck driver shortages. So it is definitely 
something that is a concern.
    We factor those kinds of constraints into our planning and 
try to make sure that we don't commit to fly more than what we 
can supply. Over a long period of time, I am concerned about 
the pipeline capacity for this country. It is not growing and 
yet the country is growing, so we clearly will need jet fuel 
supplies to meet our needs to grow in the future. We will need 
distribution of capabilities to meet those needs as well.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you. I appreciate it. Madam Chair, I 
see my time is up, so for the remaining, Mr. Parker, Mr. Kirby, 
Mr. Laughter, I will appreciate an answer to this in writing so 
that we can be sure that we help you do whatever we can to meet 
the needs, future travel needs for everybody across this 
Nation. Thank you.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you, Senator Rosen. Let's try Senator 
Sinema. See if this works this time.

               STATEMENT OF HON. KYRSTEN SINEMA, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA

    Senator Sinema. Hello--Chair and thank you to our witnesses 
for joining us today. Can you hear me, Chairwoman?
    The Chairwoman. Yes, we can.
    Senator Sinema. Thank you. As the coronavirus pandemic 
threatens aviation jobs across the country, Congress's 
bipartisan effort to pass the PSP saved aviation jobs and 
ensured that essential travel continued during the pandemic.
    So the PSP, which was first created under the CARES Act in 
March 2020, provided vital financial assistance to our domestic 
airline industry and prevented massive layoffs throughout the 
aviation sector. The PSP program was an example of Congress 
working in a bipartisan way to ensure tens of thousands of 
aviation employees would keep receiving their paychecks, and 
that American travelers would have air service available when 
they were ready to return to travel.
    So I appreciate that you are holding this hearing to review 
the PSP program and to ensure that the recipients of Federal 
assistance met the program's requirements to maintain their 
payrolls and use Federal funds efficiently and effectively. So 
my first question is for Mr. Parker and Mr. Kelly, your 
airlines, American and Southwest, are the two largest carriers 
in Arizona's largest airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor?
    So, Mr. Parker, you can go first. Please describe the 
impact of the PSP program on American Airlines stopping in 
Arizona and flight options for Arizona traveler.
    Mr. Parker. Thank you, Senator, and thank you for your help 
in getting us to this point. It is impossible to understate how 
important PSP was to air travel and to what we would have ended 
up having for the people of Arizona.
    Our hub in Phoenix would have almost certainly, without 
PSP, with a loan program as a PSP program, back in May, April, 
May 2020, we would likely would have shut the hub down 
completely, and Arizona wouldn't have air service, or at least 
for American Airlines, as we did everything we could to save 
money in a time of no demand. And I don't know when it would 
have started back up.
    They would have likely been, as things have played out, it 
will likely been not until the vaccine a year later. So again, 
it is impossible to overstate the impact it had. And thank you 
again for all you did to help get us here.
    Mr. Kelly. Senator, I am not sure I can improve upon what 
Mr. Parker just said. So it definitely put us in a position of 
strength. And I am very grateful for all your leadership and 
support. And obviously, you know, taking care of our people is 
a top priority. So again, thank you very much.
    Senator Sinema. Well, thank you. You know, my next question 
is for Mr. Kirby. Earlier this month, United opened the United 
Aviate Academy, a State of the art pilot training center at 
Phoenix with your airport. How will this training center bring 
economic opportunity to Goodyear and provide flight training 
opportunities for individuals from communities that have been 
traditionally underrepresented in the cockpit?
    Mr. Kirby. Well, thank you, Senator. And we have talked a 
lot today in this hearing about the need to create a new 
pipeline for training pilots. And so we are excited to have--to 
be the first U.S. airline to have our own training academy for 
pilots there in Arizona.
    And what we are going to do--our first class started this 
week of 30 students. None of them had flight experience before 
today, and they will get training, and they will get the 
opportunity to have training that is very similar to what 
military training is, where they will fly aerobatics and they 
will learn much, they will fly in crowded airspace. They will 
have a very robust training program.
    That group of people is 79 percent people of color. Today 
at United Airlines--or women and people of color. Today, at 
United Airlines, only 19 percent of our pilots are women or 
people of color, and to the best of my knowledge, we have the 
highest level of any airline in the country. That is because 
there have been historical barriers to entry for women and 
people of color. There just aren't pilots--as many pilots out 
there.
    So we are going to create and be able to start training the 
next generation of pilots. We are going to be able to train 
them better. But we are also going to be able to have a diverse 
group of people and we expect to be putting 500 new pilots 
through that facility every year. We are excited about it.
    I hope it can become a template for other--for the rest of 
aviation, but also for other jobs around the economy to create 
training programs where people can get careers and have 
careers, you know, which helps rebuild the middle class in this 
country.
    Senator Sinema. Thank you. You know, my last question will 
be for Mr. Parker. In November, the CDC instituted new measures 
to allow for more international travel, and the CDC measures 
require airlines to keep passenger data for the purpose of 
contact tracing, which can be shared with public health 
officials if necessary.
    What are your thoughts in the current process for data 
collection and contact tracing and are there changes to those 
requirements that we should consider?
    Mr. Parker. Thanks, Senator. We are happy to comply. Again, 
if it is helpful to the CDC, we are happy to collect the data 
and we have been doing so. I don't know that we have any 
recommendations for more. We collect what we are asked to 
collect, and we will continue to do so.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you, Senator Sinema. Is Senator 
Lummis available? I don't know if she has joined us remotely. 
If not, we will go to Senator Lujan.

               STATEMENT OF HON. BEN RAY LUJAN, 
                  U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO

    Senator Lujan. Thank you, Chair Cantwell and Ranking Member 
Wicker for holding this hearing today and thank you to our 
panel of witnesses for joining us. Like most places across 
America, air travel is vital to New Mexico. It is a key 
component of our transportation system, whether it is keeping 
families connected, tourism that drives our economy--we have 
seen an increase with film production in our state. Netflix, 
NBC Universal recently opened up some studios, acquired the 
largest soundstages.
    New Mexico is seeing an upswing with a growing economy as 
well. And as we have seen a return to better numbers since the 
pandemic first really took a hit to the airline industry, 
seeing these numbers grow back to 82 percent of what pre-
pandemic levels were for Thanksgiving and 87 percent now in 
anticipation with growth going into the end of this year and 
into next year is where my question begins.
    I voted to fund the Payroll Support Program with the 
understanding that supporting airline travel would help my 
constituents stay connected to the world and bolster tourism 
and economic opportunities back home.
    So my question for each and each of you is just yes or no. 
Compared to pre-pandemic levels, has your airline fully 
restored service schedules for your flight routes to and from 
New Mexico? Mr. Parker.
    Mr. Parker. We have. We serve Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and 
Roswell. We paired back some routes during the pandemic. We 
have restored all of them. We have actually recently added a 
route from Santa Fe to LAX.
    Senator Lujan. And Mr. Kirby?
    Mr. Kirby. We also serve three airports. We did and 
continue to serve Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Hobs.
    Senator Lujan. And Mr. Laughter.
    Mr. Laughter. Thank you, Senator. I believe that we have 
restored all service, but I will verify that.
    Senator Lujan. And Mr. Kelly.
    Mr. Kelly. We are your number one airline in Albuquerque, 
so I was afraid you were going to skip me. We have not restored 
our flight activity across our system, so we are not back where 
we were.
    We have increasing flights coming in Albuquerque this month 
and then again in May, and we hope to have our entire system 
fully restored, hopefully by early 2023, which would include 
Albuquerque as well. One route in particular----
    Senator Lujan. Early 2023?
    Mr. Kelly. It will take us that long. Absolutely.
    Senator Lujan. Are there other states in the same situation 
as New Mexico?
    Mr. Kelly. It is across our system. Yes, there is no 
airline that is back to pre-pandemic flight activity yet.
    Senator Lujan. You are the only one on here that is not 
back to pre-pandemic levels for New Mexico. And as you said, 
you are one of the most important airlines that we have. You 
are my preferred airline, by the way, Mr. Kelly, when I would 
fly to and from our Nation's capital. I can't do that anymore 
because those flights take you through Houston and through 
other areas, and it is a longer journey.
    The reason that I am asking this particular question, I 
know what many of our colleagues have asked it, is when 
entrepreneurs are looking to make investments or to move 
around, they do it based on direct hops. The fewer direct hops 
that we have, and especially with a flight that is as 
affordable, with staff as great as you have on Southwest 
Airlines, it stifles what is happening at home.
    And so I am certainly going to advocate as a member of the 
Commerce committee, as a newly elected United State Senator 
with the power of the vote that I have, with how I can fight 
for my constituents.
    And so I look forward to following up on with that 
conversation. The other line of questioning that I have, and I 
don't know if it has come up today, but it has resulted from 
members in the past, is about bag storage or just bag 
transparency. I was surprised to see that there is no 
consistency with the size of bags that you can carry on or 
policies that the airlines follows.
    Southwest and Spirit follow the recommendations of your 
trade association, IATA, and have a carry-on bag limit of 50 
total inches. Delta United and American 45 inches. So should 
passengers be required to purchase different check on bags 
depending on which airline they are going to fly?
    I don't understand that. And then there are the fees. So 
every airline charges a different amount to check your bag at 
the gate. And whether or not you have to pay depends on the 
gate agent often. It is still not consistent with flight to 
flight on the same airline.
    So the question that I have here, and I will get through 
this quickly Chair Cantwell, Mr. Parker, yes or no, do you 
believe customers deserve consistent and transparent luggage 
policies during air travel?
    Mr. Parker. Yes, certainly across any individual airline we 
all have--we may have different policies, but across any 
individual airline, yes, and we try to give our customers----
    Senator Lujan. In individual airline, but not across 
domestic flights as a whole?
    Mr. Parker. We don't all have the same policies. Now, we 
have different aircraft that can hold different--the ability to 
hold different capacity inside. We are actually quite proud of 
American of how we have transitioning all our airplanes to much 
larger overheads that will allow all of our customers to bring 
on a roller aboard the aircraft. So as things like that roll 
out, we end up with different policies depending on what type 
of aircraft we fly.
    Senator Lujan. Mr. Kelly.
    Mr. Kelly. Well, we don't charge for bags, so there is no 
at the gate issue with us. Sounds like we have got the biggest 
bag, so I think we are in good shape on this one.
    Senator Lujan. So you think that there should be 
consistency across the airlines?
    Mr. Kelly. No, I agree with Doug. I think airplane sizes 
are different and overhead bins are different. We actually have 
the choice on our aircraft to have different bins ourselves. 
So, I think that is an individual airline choice and a matter 
of competitiveness.
    Senator Lujan. Mr. Kirby.
    Mr. Kirby. We are also investing in larger overhead bins, 
so a full airplane, everyone can--every single customer can 
bring a roller board on board. And I think we should be 
internally consistent on how we behave and our message to 
consumers. But I am not sure that we all--I don't think we 
should all have to have the same policies.
    Senator Lujan. Mr. Laughter.
    Mr. Laughter. I would just echo what has been said and say 
that, you know, we look forward to further conversation on that 
subject.
    Senator Lujan. And Chair Cantwell, I look forward to diving 
into this more. It is just, Senator Menendez brought this back 
up in 2015, and I think most recently, and other Senators have 
raised this. It is inconvenient for constituents, for people 
that are flying across the country.
    Policies change depending on when you are at the gate, and 
most backpacks that you might carry as a carry on, they don't 
even fit in that little deal that you check your bags in, by 
the way, and it is fun to watch who's asked to put their bag in 
there and who is not.
    Just consistency and transparency makes a difference as 
people are flying so I look forward to following up. Thanks 
again, Madam Chair.
    The Chairwoman. Thank you. And Senator Lujan, is this a 
deal we issue in Albuquerque?
    Senator Lujan. No, we have gates--all of you are welcome to 
take up more gates and get more direct flights there.
    The Chairwoman. No, no, I meant. So in effects, DOE--
national lab travel to the United--to here. I mean, I am just 
pointing out that you are saying that is hindered.
    Senator Lujan. Oh, most certainly. So when you look at 
Sandia National Labs, Los Alamos National Labs, Air Force 
Research Labs, all connected national security apparatus as 
well. And it does make a difference. And as I said that the 
most direct flight is at the same time, just isn't available 
any longer. And that is for all constituents----
    The Chairwoman. Maybe, maybe----
    Senator Lujan [continuing]. Not just one city.
    The Chairwoman. Yes, maybe that is some information we 
could, you know, make available. But I would imagine that DOE 
traffic--and those two labs are the largest, one of the largest 
employers of your State, right?
    Senator Lujan. Most certainly.
    The Chairwoman. And we want that--we want that fast access 
back and forth, but we will get some data to the people and 
ensure that. I don't know if Senator Duckworth is joining us 
remotely. If there is anybody else who is joining us remotely. 
Senator Blumenthal, did you have another round that you----
    Senator Blumenthal. I have just a few more questions 
following up on my colleague's question. Does it cost money, 
Mr. Kelly, for you to allow passengers to come on your planes 
without charge?
    Mr. Kelly. I am sorry----
    Senator Blumenthal. Does it cost money for passengers to 
bring bags on your plane, and do you--in other words, is there 
a cost to you of not charging?
    Mr. Kelly. Is there a cost to us of not charging him?
    Senator Blumenthal. I can't imagine what it would----
    Mr. Kelly. Well, there is. There is effort involved, 
obviously, for us to check a bag. There is weight involved when 
a customer brings a bag into the cabin. But other than just the 
added weight and their added fuel burn, no, there is no effort 
on the airline's part. Like we have all said, we invest in 
overhead bins and there is wear and tear on those. So there is 
some--there is an----
    Senator Blumenthal. Have you calculated the costs, what you 
are sacrificing?
    Mr. Kelly. No. No, I----
    Senator Blumenthal. Mr. Parker, have you calculated the 
costs of either checking or bringing bags on board, carrying 
bags on board?
    Mr. Parker. Let me--if I don't answer this properly, I am 
sure you will let me know, but what I think you are asking is, 
is there a cost to actually--for a customer to check a bag, 
which we do charge a fee for.
    Senator Blumenthal. What is the cost?
    Mr. Parker. There is. Oh well, sir, the cost is everything 
you see that is required to get that bag out of that customer's 
hand and deliver it back to them on the carousel. Those are 
lots of people. Those are bag belts. Those are infrastructure--
indeed in today's world----
    Senator Blumenthal. But have you calculated--I can 
understand in principle that there is someone at the check-in 
counter, there is someone down next to the plane, there are 
various people along the line, but what is the total cost?
    Mr. Parker. And it is much more than that, real estate. In 
today's world where customers don't need--we have airports that 
were built for people to check in at the airport. Very few 
people do that anymore. The only reason most people are 
checking in outside of security, is because they have to check 
a bag. We wouldn't need that space in airports, but for those 
customers that check bags. So the cost of checking bags is, I 
have not calculated the cost----
    Senator Blumenthal. That really is my point.
    Mr. Parker. But I know there is a significant cost, and the 
customers that use that service cost American Airlines more 
than those that don't.
    Senator Blumenthal. I am just a country lawyer from 
Connecticut. I never went to business school, so I apologize 
for my sort of clumsiness in trying to put this question to 
you. But the way I view it is that if there is any 
justification for charging this fee, it must be that you are 
saying to your customer, look, it costs us x amount either for 
you to carry on a bag or to check a bag.
    And what I just heard you say is that you haven't 
calculated that either per bag or in total. In other words, you 
don't say to your customer, you know, this is a service, and we 
are going to have to charge you for it. It costs this much for 
us to do it. You don't calculate that amount.
    Mr. Parker. I haven't calculated it precisely, but indeed, 
that is exactly what we are saying to the customer. If you want 
to use that service that requires more expense, here is what we 
charge.
    Senator Blumenthal. Yes, I understand that because that is 
why I don't check bags. That is why none of my children check 
bags. That is why many of us carry bags on. And the point I am 
making is that one of the provisions of the legislation that we 
have offered is to say to the airlines, you have to justify 
fees with what the costs are rather than in effect making 
money.
    And right now, it seems to me it is kind of a profit center 
for you all, or in any event, you don't, at least according to 
what you have said to me right now, you don't calculate. You 
know the total per year cost per bag is x amount. The total for 
a bag of 50 pounds or more is X, Y or Z.
    So I think what I am asking all of you to do, those who do 
charge those fees to check bags or to carry on bags, is to 
provide us with the costs that you regard as your airline 
having to pay wherever it goes and maybe specify how it does 
go, whether it is labor, machinery, you know, obviously there 
is machinery to get the bag onto the plane. So that is what I 
am asking.
    Mr. Kelly. Just to be clear, we don't charge. We don't 
charge to carry on a bag or----
    Senator Blumenthal. You have said that now a number of 
times, Mr. Kelly.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Blumenthal. We have that on the record. But I think 
you are--you kind of prove my point, which is, and it goes to 
the question I think that has been raised about consistency, 
why do some airlines do it and some not?
    Why do some charge x amount, and others not? And I think 
that fee or charge if you are a consumer, I am not telling you 
anything you don't know, looking at your airlines, you kind of 
scratch your head and say, they must be using this fee to make 
money off me.
    The Chairwoman. Mr. Tretheway, do you have any comments 
here? I feel like we should give you at least the last word 
before we close out. You have sat here the entire time and paid 
attention.
    I didn't even see you looking at your electronic devices. 
Do you have a comment on this about how airlines are choosing 
the uniqueness of different services and how that is working 
out in the marketplace, both for consumers and driving down 
costs, and also on choice?
    Mr. Tretheway. Yes, I do have some comments. First, can you 
hear me? I want to make sure I am on.
    The Chairwoman. Yes. Yes, we hear you.
    Mr. Tretheway. So you could choose to re-regulate the 
airlines. I think that would be a big mistake. The regulated 
airline model serves wealthy passengers, some business 
travelers, but it didn't serve 80 percent of Americans. 
Deregulation has been phenomenal.
    The airlines, I don't think, should be ashamed about making 
some money. If you look at the profits of this industry, the 
post-war era, and I always have to remind my students when I 
say that I mean 1945 not 1991, have lost dramatic amounts of 
money. They have to make money someplace.
    If you want really low ticket prices, then you have to find 
places where can some passengers pay a bit more. The airlines 
have found things like there is no extra cost of the seat up at 
the bulkhead versus the seat further back, yet some passengers 
are willing to pay for that, and those passengers help offset 
the fixed costs of flying the aircraft.
    So I think that moving to a pure cost basis for setting 
charges will reduce--will reverse what is now almost 45 years 
of the benefits of a market solution.
    Senator Blumenthal. If I may respond, Madam Chair.
    The Chairwoman. Please go ahead. Although I really do want 
to get out of here before 6 p.m.
    Senator Blumenthal. 45 years is longer than I have been 
flying. But no one here is proposing, Mr. Tretheway, that we 
reregulate airlines. I would suggest, by the way, that we have 
had a lot of consolidation, and we have the, essentially the 
airline industry of America sitting before us because of 
consolidation that has occurred because of lax enforcement of 
our antitrust laws.
    I don't know that anyone on the panel will agree with me on 
that fact, but no one is suggesting that we regulate airlines. 
Nor do we regulate a lot of other industries or companies when 
we apply basic rules of consumer protection. Rules of the road. 
I have suggested a bill of rights. So I don't want to be 
misunderstood Mr. Tretheway, as that way as suggesting we need 
another Civil Aeronautics Board, I think it was called--am I 
right about that?
    Mr. Tretheway. Yes.
    Senator Blumenthal. I may not have been flying 45--well, 
maybe I would. But we are done with the ICC. We are done with 
the CAB. Deregulation was welcomed, but we are talking here 
about basic rights that should be enforced. And I am all in 
favor of competition, which many of you have urged, and I hope 
that the Government will help to promote competition, not 
impede it.
    And I just want to finish by thanking you all. I think all 
of you agreed that you would work with me on this idea of a 
bill of rights. I am not interpreting you as committing to 
anything specific, but your willingness to help in that 
endeavor is very welcomed.
    The Chairwoman. Well, I certainly will look forward to 
working with you on it, and I think my question to Mr. 
Trethewey was really just to spark this question. I do think, 
you know, we have lots of opportunities for growth around the 
globe, but we also want to make sure consumers are a big part 
of the equation. So, you know, I appreciate your work on this.
    Senator Blumenthal. And Madam Chair, I thank you for your 
support. You have been a real consumer advocate. Thank you.
    The Chairwoman. So, I want to make a point for the record 
that we also have had testimony from the Air Line Pilots 
Association. I didn't mention that at the beginning, as I 
mentioned other airlines that we have also received testimony 
for. As I mentioned, this hearing is part of our overall effort 
to produce a report on the PSP program, which we estimate doing 
next year, hopefully in the first quarter.
    The hearing record will remain open until January 12, 2022. 
So any Senators who would like to submit a question to you all 
for the record, you need to do so by December 29, 2021. And we 
would ask our witnesses to respond to that by January 12, 2022.
    So with that, I want to thank all our witnesses for being 
here. As I mentioned earlier, I think it has been a while since 
the airline CEOs have been up here. I can't remember the last 
time the flight attendants have been here.
    But I think you can see from this attendance, we had more--
I think 20 members showed up. You could see the range of 
questions, you could see the concern and the issues that were 
raised.
    And I think people have worked in a bipartisan effort and 
want to continue to figure out how we can move forward 
together. So thank you all very much. We are adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 5:25 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                 ______
                                 
 Prepared Statement of Ted Christie, President and CEO, Spirit Airlines
    Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker and members of the Committee, 
thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony in connection 
with the Committee's December 15, 2021 hearing entitled ``Oversight of 
the U.S. Airline Industry.''
    My name is Ted Christie, and I serve as President and CEO of Spirit 
Airlines. I am pleased to offer some thoughts on Spirit's response to 
the challenge of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the ways in which 
Spirit's experience in managing through the crisis--as America's 
leading ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC)--may have differed in some 
respects from that of the major U.S. airlines.
    First, however, on behalf of more than 10,000 dedicated Spirit 
employees, I express our great appreciation for all the effort and 
professionalism of this Committee, the Congress and two administrations 
in creating a balanced, thoughtful program that kept the U.S. economy 
from spinning into the abyss, protected essential jobs and saved the 
critical infrastructure of the U.S. airline industry from likely 
permanent damage.
    The arrival of the COVID pandemic in early Spring 2020 immediately 
plunged U.S. airlines into crisis, the worst ever seen in the history 
of our global industry. Travel demand dropped by almost 95 percent by 
late March, forcing airlines to take drastic actions to mothball 
aircraft, cut costs, negotiate with creditors and commence planning for 
imminent restructuring, including via the bankruptcy process. Airline 
employees and the employees of our constellation of critical suppliers 
faced massive furloughs and layoffs, and government and business 
leaders alike faced the reality of adverse spillover effects into the 
general economy.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Changes in airline employment, up or down, have a high 
multiplier effect on other jobs and the general economy, as airlines 
are economic catalysts for many other economic sectors such as retail, 
restaurants, tourism etc. that depend on consumer traffic.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Working with the administration, and taking a practical, bipartisan 
approach, this Committee and Congress developed the CARES Act and the 
Payroll Support Program (PSP) thereunder. I have no doubt that CARES 
and especially PSP not only saved the U.S. airline industry from near-
term failure but also forestalled many years of painful recovery as 
airline companies and their supply chain tried to pick up the pieces 
following a complete meltdown.
    To those who decry the CARES Act and specifically the PSP as some 
sort of undeserved ``bailout'' of our industry, let me offer the 
following perspectives:

   The PSP was clearly designed to support airline and aviation 
        workers, not the airlines themselves. Speaking for Spirit, not 
        one penny of PSP funds went for anything but employee salaries, 
        wages and benefits--in fact, in Spirit's case, we paid about 35 
        percent of the cost of retaining our workforce and maintaining 
        payroll out of our own funds.

   The absence of PSP, or similar support, would probably have 
        resulted in immediate major layoffs and furloughs of about 70 
        percent+ of airline employees, as well as commensurate job 
        losses for employees in airports and the many businesses across 
        our country that indirectly benefit from air connectivity.\2\ 
        Those workers would likely have turned to state unemployment 
        benefits, also taxpayer funded. In a sense, therefore, the PSP 
        simply transferred an already certain cost from one pocket to 
        another; it was certainly not wasted.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ This key point was well developed in Dr. Tretheway's testimony 
before the Committee at the December 15 hearing. Beyond the 1.3 million 
direct jobs in the airline industry and related infrastructure, the 
indirect employment effects are material, if difficult to measure.

   The speed at which PSP was rolled out protected other 
        important, if intangible, assets that benefit the airline 
        industry and our country--mainly continuity. Losing employees, 
        even temporarily, is not great for any business. It's even 
        worse for airlines, because we are complex organisms that 
        operate on long timelines: we sell tickets to our valued 
        customers often many months out; our collective bargaining 
        agreements run several years in duration, and we commit to buy 
        new aircraft and to serve key airports under contracts that can 
        run up to 25 years or even more. As past airline bankruptcies 
        (as well as single-event crises such as 9/11) have shown, these 
        long-term commitments are not quickly or easily repaired after 
        a sudden rupture. Managing a long-horizon business like an 
        airline requires an experienced and specialized staff that 
        works together as a team keep themselves and our customers safe 
        and the operation running. Even temporary loss of these 
        valuable people would impose an exceptional burden on recovery 
        of the airlines and the economy.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Some of the countries Spirit serves lacked the resources to 
implement a PSP-type program, and also have a limited general safety 
net for dislodged workers and their public health systems. Spirit has 
witnessed the difficulty these countries have experienced, including 
challenges added to our own operation, as they seek to recover from the 
pandemic, specifically in the airline and related employment sectors.

   Finally, the PSP needs to be understood as a transitional 
        support program for a safe, well-managed and largely efficient 
        industry that suffered a sudden and devastating external event. 
        It is not a bailout. PSP had nothing in common with past 
        taxpayer-funded programs to rescue critical industries whose 
        inefficiency, profligacy or downright irresponsibility gained 
        them taxpayer support, only because their continued failure was 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        an even worse option.

    For our hard-working, professional Team Members,\4\ many of them 
classified as essential workers during the height of the pandemic who, 
therefore, by the nature of their jobs, needed to show up in public 
spaces every day and work, I have no words to describe my gratitude. On 
their behalf I can only say, to this Committee, that you stepped up 
fast when it was needed most.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ We use the term Team Members to refer to our over 10,000 direct 
employees as well as about 18,000 contractors that are employed by 
third-party staffing companies. This breakdown is typical for low-cost 
carriers who have less dense networks than network carriers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Spirit did not furlough a single employee during the pandemic. We 
maintained all benefit programs intact (including all health benefits), 
regardless of leave status. In Spring 2021, as demand recovered and 
staffing problems emerged, we increased compensation for airport staff 
and instigated pay raises at our third-party staffing partners (also 
mainly at the airports). Some other points:

   About 82 percent of Spirit direct employees are represented 
        by one of five unions. With access to PSP funds, Spirit 
        negotiated with our union leaderships several temporary and 
        voluntary leave programs we implemented during 2020 and parts 
        of 2021, before our employee recall and resumption of full 
        service. Spirit enjoys excellent relations with our represented 
        work groups, and we work hard to keep it that way. The 
        atmosphere of common objectives, shared sacrifice and 
        collaboration between our management and labor leadership 
        during this critical period, I believe, has further 
        strengthened that bond.

   The PSP, including rounds 2 and 3, enabled Spirit and other 
        airlines not only to maintain payroll, but also to communicate 
        a credible message of stability to our workforce. It's hard to 
        underestimate the value of that, especially as the pandemic 
        wore on and employees remained naturally concerned about their 
        future and the airline's staying power. That messaging also 
        helped us through a well-organized recall of flight crews, 
        mechanics and others on paid temporary leaves in the early 
        Spring of 2021, as passenger demand picked up.

   The mere existence of the CARES Act Loan Program maintained 
        essential access to private and public financial markets, 
        setting a firm floor that private capital sources competed 
        against. This was of great value to Spirit and the entire 
        industry. Spirit has a culture of self-help, and so in the end 
        we decided not to take funds under the Loan Program, even 
        though the terms were attractive. Rather, we considered it our 
        responsibility to prioritize financial markets over taxpayer 
        resources, to the maximum extent possible. In addition to 
        receiving, with gratitude, $754 million in PSP funds, since the 
        onset of the pandemic Spirit on its own has raised over $2 
        billion in private and public financial markets to shore up its 
        financial position.

    Spirit Airlines is a disruptor in the airline industry, built to 
provide a low-cost option to Americans who cannot easily afford air 
travel. While our domestic market share is modest,\5\ we exert a 
disproportionate effect on moderating airfares in the markets we serve, 
saving U.S. consumer hundreds of millions each year whether they fly on 
Spirit or not. As of the end of 2021, Spirit served 82 destinations, 
including 24 of the top 25 U.S. metros and 16 countries in the 
Caribbean and Central and South America. Over the past 15 years Spirit 
has been the fastest-growing U.S. airline, roughly quintupling in size. 
That says clearly that consumers want and need our prices and product 
in the marketplace. All over our country, airports and local 
municipalities are clamoring for Spirit to start or increase service; 
they know very well what a competitive low-fare air option means to 
their citizens and local economies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Spirit's domestic market share is below 5 percent, and the 
collective share of the ULCC airlines (including Frontier, Allegiant 
and Sun Country) is below 10 percent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Spirit is also a conservatively managed business. As of the end of 
2019, before the onset of the pandemic, we had approximately $1.1 
billion in cash and marketable securities, representing almost 30 
percent of our revenues for that year--one of the highest such 
liquidity ratios in the airline industry worldwide. We did that, and 
continue to follow a conservative approach to liquidity, precisely 
because we are a fast-growing airline that needs capital and access to 
financial markets to support our growth. More importantly, in these 
same past 15 years, our U.S. airline industry has consolidated into an 
oligarchy of four carriers that share about 80 percent of the seats 
flown each day in the US, and a gaggle of far smaller carriers, 
including Spirit, that must fight for customers, airport positions, 
government support and capital against carriers many times our size.
    The CARES Act and PSP clearly warded off disaster for U.S. airlines 
and our valuable workforce. However, the experience of the pandemic has 
again shed light on some aspects and effects of government measures and 
policies in the aviation sector. For the benefit of the traveling 
public, it is worth taking stock of what we have seen during the 
pandemic and considering some options and perhaps new ideas to support 
competition, reliable service and the long-term health of our industry.

   Despite the obvious value of CARES and PSP, in some ways 
        these programs have further exposed the advantages large 
        carriers have over smaller carriers. Larger carriers generally 
        covered a higher percentage of their payroll with PSP funds 
        than did smaller carriers like Spirit. That is because the 
        smaller carriers have been growing at faster rates, so the 2019 
        base payroll measurement period understated their 2020-21 
        payroll obligations. The Committee, Congress and administration 
        did think about this small-carrier disadvantage when devising 
        PSP, e.g., designing the first $100 million of PSP in pure 
        grant form, but the gap was wider than that.

   Those who follow airline pricing closely have seen that 
        larger airlines have been pricing well below cost during most 
        of the pandemic. That practice may be explained in part by the 
        legitimate need to keep airplanes running and maintained, crews 
        trained, etc. However, route planning actions suggests a desire 
        to keep a boot on the neck of low-cost carriers, postponing the 
        day when ``return to normal'' conditions demand that all 
        airlines return to profitability--in order to ensure a stable 
        future for their employees, attract new capital, pay off 
        government loans and deliver reasonable returns to 
        shareholders.

   The three-time renewal of the FAA's waiver of use-or-lose 
        slot restrictions has artificially propped up the holdings of 
        network carriers (public assets that network carriers obtained 
        mostly for zero cost). Smaller carriers like Spirit have taken 
        some advantage of the idle capacity to add flights in formerly 
        congested hours. However, non-legacy carriers cannot justify 
        the investment in potentially unused airport capacity if these 
        temporary authorizations are withdrawn in the future. In 
        Spirit's view the waiver should be withdrawn, and if the large 
        airlines are not willing to fly their valuable authorizations 
        (or, more likely, if they resume abusive ``squatting'' behavior 
        by e.g., the overuse of smaller aircraft at congested 
        airports), then FAA should promptly withdraw and re-allocate 
        these valuable public assets.

   Network carriers maintain interline agreements among 
        themselves that provide re-accommodation options to aid 
        stranded passengers. Despite requests over the years, smaller 
        carriers have been denied these agreements, which is nothing 
        more than a competitive tactic by larger carriers to increase 
        costs for non-aligned carriers by forcing them to pay high 
        ``walk-up'' fares when they seek to re-accommodate their 
        customers on other airlines. The operational disruptions of 
        Summer 2021 could have been mitigated by wider adoption of 
        interline agreements.

    Let me comment briefly on the last point: recent operational 
disruptions. As was widely reported, in early August, Spirit 
experienced several days of network and crew disruption that resulted 
in numerous unscheduled and pro-active flight cancellations. As a 
carrier that has transformed itself in recent years from ranking at or 
near bottom in reliability metrics to one of the best in the 
industry,\6\ the August disruption was a painful and costly event. Our 
passenger re-accommodation costs alone during this period exceeded $30 
million.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ Spirit improved to 5th in on-time performance in 2018 and to 
4th in 2019, better than any other low-cost carrier and most network 
airlines. We are also very proud to have been named to 2021 Fortune 500 
Global Most Admired Companies list; winning ATW Value Airline of the 
Year (twice); APEX Most Improved Airline for 2019 and consistent 4-star 
rating (top level for low-cost carriers); winner of SeaTac Airport's 
prestigious ``Fly Quiet'' Award for the last three consecutive years, 
among other awards and recognition. (WSJ rankings?) We are also one of 
the most fuel-efficient airlines anywhere (expand? I know we've both 
heard that is a key issue for this administration).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Other airlines also saw difficult operating conditions during the 
2021 summer high season and, after a smooth Thanksgiving holiday, 
airlines again experienced challenging conditions over the Christmas/
New Year holiday period. I believe all airlines, including Spirit, have 
implemented additional protective measures, and are continuing to do 
so: reducing schedules, increasing crew reserves, re-timing flights in 
congested airport hours, even mandatory overtime in peak periods for 
crew schedulers and re-accommodation staff. But, it is clear we are all 
in a pandemic era of new conditions. In addition to the usual forces 
such as weather, ATC congestion and maintenance events, all airlines 
are seeing persistent staffing pressures (even as airlines dramatically 
increase compensation in affected areas), volatile demand as new 
variants have come and gone and continued disruptive passenger behavior 
on board that threatens and fatigues our dedicated flight crews.
    I'll end on an optimistic note. Despite all the disruptions the 
pandemic has caused, directly and indirectly, as I've travelled around 
our network and visited our stations these past several months, I see 
our Team Members happy to be back at work, our Guests excited to be 
travelling again, and--finally--crowds again in our Nation's airports. 
That's a great thing for our economy and our recovery. I again thank 
members of this Committee for your support.
                                              Ted Christie,
                                                 President and CEO,
                                                  Spirit Airlines, Inc.
Miramar, Florida
January 11, 2022
                                 ______
                                 
            Prepared Statement of Robin Hayes, CEO, JetBlue
    Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and Members of the 
Committee, I am Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue. On behalf of more than 
22,000 JetBlue crewmembers, thank you for the opportunity to provide 
testimony for today's hearing.
    In February 2020, just weeks before the United States began to feel 
the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic, JetBlue celebrated 
the 20th anniversary of our first flight. We were founded in 2000 with 
a mission of Bringing Humanity Back to Air Travel, and since then have 
delivered on that mission as we've grown to serve more than 100 cities 
in the United States, Caribbean, Latin America and, as of this summer, 
the United Kingdom.
    I want to begin by thanking our amazing JetBlue crewmembers, who 
every day deliver a simple but extraordinary value proposition--that no 
one should have to choose between a low fare and a great experience. 
Since that first flight almost 22 years ago, every JetBlue crewmember 
has played a part in building a much-loved low-fare brand and a 
reputation for shaking up the status quo, and challenging the 
competition to raise their game.
    JetBlue has always placed the highest priority on development and 
support of our crewmembers. In our history, we have not involuntarily 
furloughed a single crewmember, a claim very few--if any--carriers 
around the world can make. Thanks to the Payroll Support Program (PSP), 
JetBlue has maintained its commitment to a No Furlough policy 
throughout the pandemic. Any JetBlue crewmember who wished to continue 
employment with JetBlue through the pandemic was able to do so.
    Our crewmembers and the entire aviation industry join me in 
thanking the members of this Committee for your tremendous leadership 
throughout this pandemic as COVID-19 created challenges unlike anything 
we've ever faced. Without the PSP, the airline industry would have been 
irrevocably damaged with devastating ramifications for our customers, 
our crewmembers and the communities we serve.
    We appreciate that the CARES Act and subsequent pandemic relief 
packages included provisions intended to position U.S. airlines to keep 
their employees on the company payroll, and to survive the crisis in 
order to play a vital role in reviving the economy when travel demand 
returned. While we took every action possible to survive the downturn, 
there's no question that the PSP funds that flowed through JetBlue as a 
payroll pass-through program to our crewmembers were critical to our 
survival.
    JetBlue used PSP funds to keep our crewmembers employed when there 
was no demand for air travel and when the timing for that demand 
returning was uncertain. In 2020 and 2021, following enactment of the 
CARES Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, and the American Rescue 
Plan Act, we entered into PSP Agreements under which the U.S. 
Department of Treasury provided JetBlue with a total of $2.084 billion 
($1.549 billion in grants and $535 million in unsecured term loans). 
Under the CARES Act Loan Program, JetBlue was approved for a total loan 
amount of $1.948 billion and drew $115 million in September 2020. In 
September 2021, we repaid the loan in full, together with interest and 
fees, totaling approximately $118 million. This is just one data point 
to demonstrate the effectiveness of PSP--jobs were preserved, airlines 
kept operating and the government earned a return on its investment.
    As part of each of the three PSP Agreements as well as with the 
CARES Act Secured Loan, JetBlue issued a total of 5,598,808 warrants to 
U.S. Treasury to acquire JetBlue stock. Because the three PSP grants 
and the CARES Act loan were issued at different times over the course 
of the year, it's most helpful to assess value through the number of 
warrants issued and the strike price for each:
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Every dollar JetBlue received under the PSP went directly to 
crewmember wages and benefits and the entire $2.084 billion was 
utilized as of September 30, 2021. The vast majority of those funds--84 
percent--went to frontline crewmember wages and benefits.
    While we are extremely grateful for the PSP program and the benefit 
it provided to our crewmembers, PSP funds did not cover the full 
payroll expense for JetBlue or any other airline. According to Airlines 
for America, the $49.6 billion in PSP funds (both grants and loans) 
received by the 11 largest U.S. passenger airlines from April 2020 to 
September 2021 covered 77.4 percent of their overall payroll costs. 
Factoring in the $14 billion in loans--even before adding interest that 
must be repaid to Treasury along with the principal--PSP covered 55.5 
percent of payroll costs. Of course, payroll expense for JetBlue and 
other carriers would have been higher if we hadn't pursued voluntary 
programs to further reduce our expenses.
    Continuing JetBlue's longstanding No Furlough policy throughout the 
pandemic, we were committed to ensuring every JetBlue crewmember who 
wished to do so could remain on our team. We also provided Opt-Out 
packages for those who wanted to retire early or were ready to make a 
change in their professional life. Close to 2,100 crewmembers Opted 
Out, most of whom left JetBlue in Q3 2020, and another 1,070 
participated in our voluntary long-term time off program (LTO). In 
addition, since March 2020, 3,100 JetBlue crewmembers left the airline 
through normal attrition. This last group of crewmembers left JetBlue 
for any number of voluntary reasons including wanting to be closer to 
home, needing to provide dependent care, finding preferred employment 
elsewhere, or the end of temporary employment.
    In March 2020, JetBlue employed close to 22,750 crewmembers. Since 
then, employment fell to roughly 19,900 before bouncing back to nearly 
22,300 crewmembers today. We offered an Opt Out program to crewmembers 
during summer 2020, with crewmembers leaving the company during August, 
September, and October 2020.
    We implemented a voluntary long-term time off program in the same 
timeframe. Both the Opt-Out and LTO programs were introduced in early 
June 2020 with a deadline to sign up by the end of the month. 
Crewmembers had to start LTO on August 2, 2020 or September 6, 2020 
depending on operational needs. While the vast majority of Opt-Outs 
left the company in August and September 2020 there were a few 
crewmembers that did not leave until the fall or winter.
    As we rolled out these programs, we also guaranteed that all 
frontline crewmembers who had not elected to take voluntary unpaid 
leave would be paid at or above the guaranteed minimum hours in their 
work agreements, even as reduced demand for travel would have otherwise 
eliminated their work. This was the case whether a crewmember was part 
of a group represented by a Collective Bargaining Agreement, an 
individual work agreement or through the company work rules for their 
group. At JetBlue, even when being paid the same rate of pay at 
guaranteed minimum hours, crewmembers' health benefits that were in 
place prior to the COVID-19 crisis remained constant throughout. We 
made the commitments to pay at or above minimum hours and to maintain 
health benefits as a result of funding from and in full compliance with 
the provisions of the Payroll Support Program.
    As critical as the PSP grants and loans were in covering a portion 
of crewmember wages, salaries and benefits, weathering the dramatic 
economic impact of the pandemic also required a company-wide focus on 
preserving cash as booking levels plummeted. Even though JetBlue 
entered this crisis from a position of strength with a strong balance 
sheet and cash in the bank, we took immediate steps adjusting capacity 
to reflect diminished demand, park aircraft in the desert, secure 
additional cash reserves on the commercial market, cut capital and 
operating spending, defer aircraft deliveries, and more.
    From April 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021--the period covered 
by the Payroll Support Program--JetBlue's total Salary, Wages and 
Benefits spend was approximately $3 billion, 73 percent of which was 
covered by the PSP grants and loans we received. Even after our 
significant steps to preserve cash, JetBlue's non-payroll spend during 
that same period totaled nearly $9 billon--including aircraft 
deliveries and other capital expenditures, fuel expense, and debt 
payments. While PSP funding mitigated one area of cost and a time when 
revenue tumbled, our spend in other areas had to continue even before 
travel demand returned.
    When Congress first considered creation of the Payroll Support 
Program in March 2020, none of us anticipated that there would be a 
need for an extension of the program, let alone two. Again, thanks to 
your leadership, the PSP funds worked as intended so that airlines 
could keep their employees on their payrolls. As we moved into 2021 and 
demand for air travel started to increase, our ramp up was more readily 
achieved.
    This year, we've been adding new crewmembers across the 
organization at a record pace so we are positioned to meet the return 
of travel demand. We're on track to hire 4,550 new crewmembers in 
2021--38 percent more than we hired in 2019 and a 184 percent increase 
over our initial 2021 plan at the peak of the pandemic. In 2020, we 
hired only 724 new crewmembers, and all but 19 of them were hired 
before March 31, 2000. Looking ahead to 2022, we expect to hire an 
additional 5,400 JetBlue crewmembers.
    Every new JetBlue crewmember attends orientation at JetBlue 
University in Orlando, where they hear from senior leaders and learn 
about our history, our industry, our network and business, and our 
culture. We normally hold 22 orientation sessions in a calendar year, 
but by year-end we'll have conducted 52 in 2021.
    With additional crewmembers hired, JetBlue planned and prepared for 
this summer's recovery eager to welcome more customers on board. Of 
course, like every other airline, we experienced weather and other 
operational obstacles that PSP funds and advanced planning could never 
prevent.
    In July, for example, the most significant driver behind long 
flight delays and resulting cancellations was unusually impactful 
weather, well beyond what we usually see, particularly in our Northeast 
focus cities. JetBlue has its two largest focus cities in New York (New 
York-JFK International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA) & Newark 
Liberty International Airport (EWR)) and Boston (Boston Logan 
International Airport (BOS)) with significant operations at New York's 
Westchester County Airport (HPN) as well. In fact, nearly 70 percent of 
JetBlue's flights touch a Northeast airport on a typical day. In July, 
the three major airports in the New York region--JFK, LGA and EWR--saw 
record rainfall. Boston rainfall was more than triple normal and the 
airport recorded rain in 21 of 27 days that month, making it the second 
wettest July on record and the wettest July in 100 years. JFK and EWR 
recorded more than double normal July rainfall, with measured rain 19 
days at JFK and 21 days at EWR.
    This record rainfall and the associated thunderstorms have impacted 
our summer 2021 operation more than usual. In a typical July, FAA Air 
Traffic Control imposes a Severe Weather Avoidance Program (SWAP) about 
half the days in the month. This year, our Northeast focus cities--
where most of our aircraft fly--saw some of the wettest weather in 
recent memory, with ATC SWAP Programs in place 75 percent of the days 
in the first half of July. Convective activity significantly reduces 
ATC throughput, constraining the en route environment, and results in 
ramp closures as a result of lightning over an airport. These 
thunderstorms often lead to flight diversions, out of position aircraft 
and crews, and delays that impact the region and beyond. When 
convective weather occurs day after day, the disruption to our fleet, 
planned operations, crewmembers and customers is multiplied and the 
challenge of recovery is compounded.
    We recognize, of course, the impact irregular operations can have 
on customers. That's why consistent with JetBlue's mission, in 2007 we 
created the JetBlue Customer Bill of Rights--the first of its kind in 
our industry. It reads:

        JetBlue is dedicated to inspiring humanity. We strive to make 
        every part of your experience as simple and pleasant as 
        possible. But we know there can be times when things do not go 
        as planned. If you're inconvenienced as a result, we think it 
        is important that you know exactly what you can expect from us. 
        That's why we created our Customer Bill of Rights. These Rights 
        will always be subject to the highest level of safety and 
        security for our customers and crewmembers.

    The full Customer Bill of Rights, which I've attached at the end of 
my statement, details what customers can expect in cases of a 
significant delay or canceled flight. Every day, the airline 
professionals at JetBlue do everything possible to prevent delays or 
cancellations that inconvenience customers--but in the rare cases when 
they do happen, we do our best to make it right.
    Looking back at the roller coaster of the past two years, I 
couldn't be more proud or more appreciative of the dedication and 
professionalism that JetBlue crewmembers have delivered to our 
customers, to their fellow crewmembers, and to our communities. The 
Payroll Support Program funds used to cover a portion of salaries, 
wages and benefits was the foundation upon which we have successfully 
built. Without it, I'm not sure JetBlue or any other major U.S. airline 
would have persevered. As we move into 2022, I can confidently say that 
JetBlue not only survived, but we have thrived.
    This summer, we launched JetBlue's first ever transatlantic service 
from New York JFK to London on our long-range Airbus A321 with 
reimagine experiences in both the Mint and Core cabins. JetBlue's Core 
experience--what other airlines call Coach or Economy class--to London 
brings a whole new level of comfort and service across the pond. In 
Mint, our business class, we made every seat a suite with a sliding 
door for full privacy--and we've made that seat more affordable to more 
travelers.
    We first introduced Mint in 2014 on flights between New York and 
Los Angeles as well as New York and San Francisco. We came up with a 
revolutionary idea--a true lie flat seat, a great meal that didn't 
taste like airline food, curated wines, and all delivered by JetBlue 
crewmembers bringing hospitality to a whole new level--offered at an 
affordable JetBlue fare.
    At that time, there were few airlines that offered a true lie flat 
seat in domestic markets, and certainly not one that was affordable to 
anyone beyond those top tier corporate customers. As we've expanded 
Mint to new markets other airlines have followed, and now a number of 
transcon U.S. markets have lie flat products offered by multiple 
carriers and in some cases, fares have dropped by more than 50 percent! 
Now, as we bring the new Mint to the US-UK market, you can look forward 
to that same model of disruption from JetBlue--lower fares and a better 
product and experience, leading to more options and greater benefits 
for consumers.
    Just as with Mint, we believe our innovative new Northeast Alliance 
(NEA) with American Airlines is the kind of disruption that enables 
JetBlue to do what we do best--bring more low fare competition to 
markets that are overpriced and under-served. This alliance, above all, 
is about growth--JetBlue's growth that would not otherwise be possible 
in the congested northeast where more competition is sorely needed.
    By partnering with American, we are bringing a viable third large 
network alternative to customers flying to and from New York (JFK, LGA 
and EWR) and Boston (BOS). Together, we are bringing a deeper and more 
relevant schedule to many Northeast markets, wider international 
connectivity, frequent flier reciprocity, along with more low fares and 
our great service. In partnership with American, we have already 
launched 58 new routes out of the Northeast and have added frequencies 
on more than 130 routes that will expand through next year.
    Together, this winter we will operate 500 daily flights out of the 
NYC area's three main airports, half of which will be flown by JetBlue. 
Plus, JetBlue is well on its way to hiring more than 1,800 new 
crewmembers to directly support growth from the NEA--jobs that would 
not otherwise be created. The NEA is supercharging competition, 
provoking competitive responses from entrenched legacy carriers, and 
ultimately benefiting consumers with more flights at lower fares.
    As we've hired so many new crewmembers in 2021 for every type of 
role, we have also increased our focus on nurturing and developing the 
aviation professionals our industry needs today and in the years to 
come. JetBlue is demonstrating how airlines can meet that need through 
programs that offer a range of pathways into the industry--for 
crewmembers currently in other roles as well as external candidates--
while also opening the door to more candidates from underrepresented 
communities, including women and people of color.
    As part of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategy, we 
are working to provide our crewmembers equitable access to affordable 
education. The innovative JetBlue Scholars Program enables crewmembers 
the ability to earn a college degree for around $5,000 on a flexible 
timeline. By year end, nearly 300 crewmembers will have graduated from 
the program.
    The JetBlue Gateways program offers seven distinct education and 
training paths to becoming a JetBlue pilot or maintenance technician. 
JetBlue's program is the longest running U.S. airline program, which 
produces a significant number of new hire pilots for an airline. Twelve 
percent of JetBlue's new hire pilots in 2021 came to the airline 
through one of these non-traditional programs and the pipeline for both 
pilots and maintenance technicians continues to grow. These programs 
are one way to address the significant socioeconomic barriers to higher 
education and training programs, and to provide crewmembers and 
external applicants from diverse communities exposure to certain 
skilled roles in the airline industry.
    JetBlue Gateways include:

   University--Students at AABI-accredited partner colleges and 
        universities can fly nonstop to first officer via a prescribed 
        time and experience-building pathway. Open to external 
        applicants and JetBlue crewmembers.

   Select--Crewmembers or external candidates with little or no 
        flying experience can land first officer status after this 
        rigorous training and time-building program. Open to external 
        applicants and JetBlue crewmembers. Training takes place with 
        JetBlue partner, CAE in Mesa, AZ.

   Direct-Flight Ops--Current crewmembers can depart their 
        current position and pursue a prescribed college education 
        accompanied with primary flight training at Aviator College. 
        Upon graduation, crewmembers join Cape Air as a First Officer, 
        time build to ATP minimums, and gain valuable flight experience 
        as a Captain in a Part 135 operation. The combined experience 
        with Aviator College and Cape Air prepares pilots for a 
        successful transition to JetBlue. Open to JetBlue crewmembers 
        and Cape Air employees only.

   Flex-Flight Ops--Current crewmembers can depart their 
        current position and pursue a flexible path to becoming a 
        pilot--as well as choose their own location for training and 
        time-building within a defined framework. Open to JetBlue 
        crewmembers only.

   Family--Families of crewmembers can make a ``Blue-line'' to 
        a first officer position through a defined education, training 
        and time-building path. Open to family members of JetBlue 
        crewmembers only.

   Direct-Tech Ops--Current crewmembers can depart their 
        current position and pursue a prescribed training pathway by 
        studying with JetBlue partners at Aviator College to become a 
        JetBlue aircraft maintenance technician. Open to JetBlue 
        crewmembers only.

   Flex-Tech Ops--Current crewmembers can depart their current 
        position and pursue a flexible path to becoming an aircraft 
        maintenance technician--as well as choose their own location 
        for training within a defined framework. Open to JetBlue 
        crewmembers only.

    We are also investing in future generations of aviation 
professionals through the JetBlue Foundation's support of aviation-
related education and STEM initiatives. Inspiring the future of 
aviation is a responsibility we take very seriously, and that's why 
we're leading the industry with a focus on supporting aviation 
education.
    Over the past two years, JetBlue has also sharpened our focus 
around Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG), building on a strong 
track record that goes back years. We issued our first responsibility 
report in 2007 and our 2008 report was done according to the Global 
Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. In 2016, JetBlue was the first 
airline and one of the first companies to report based on 
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and in 2017 based on 
Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures (TCFD). These have since 
emerged as best practices in ESG reporting and we are pleased to see 
others in the industry following our lead.
    I'm particularly proud of our leadership in the Sustainability 
space--the environmental pillar of ESG. In 2020, JetBlue became the 
first U.S. airline to achieve domestic carbon neutrality, realized 
today through the purchase of credible carbon offsets. We also began 
flying regularly on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), from San Francisco 
International Airport--allowing us to reduce lifecycle emissions 
roughly 75 percent per neat gallon of delivered jet fuel--and this year 
expanded regular commercial usage to Los Angeles International Airport. 
At the end of 2020, we further committed to achieve net zero carbon 
emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the target set by the global air 
transport industry, pledging to continuously innovate to directly 
reduce air travel emissions and our usage of carbon offsets.
    To reach this 2040 goal, we are aggressively pursuing each and 
every decarbonization lever--including optimizing fuel efficiency with 
new aircraft and efficient operations, seeking out large volumes of SAF 
for use across our network, and minimizing emissions on the ground with 
electric ground support vehicles and aircraft ground power and air 
systems.
    In September, JetBlue announced plans to speed our transition to 
SAF at New York area airports, positioning us well ahead of pace on our 
target to convert 10 percent of total fuel usage to SAF on a blended 
basis by 2030. This new agreement marks a major milestone for SAF in 
New York's airports, bringing the first large-scale volume of 
domestically produced SAF for a commercial airline to the region. 
JetBlue will convert 30 percent of its fuel buy across JFK, LGA and EWR 
from traditional Jet-A fuel to SAF, which is expected to reduce 
emissions by an estimated 80 percent per gallon of neat SAF, compared 
to traditional petroleum-based fuels.
    Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, while the main focus of 
today's hearing is on the benefits of PSP to airlines and their 
employees, I think it's important for us to acknowledge the devastating 
impact of this virus on so many in our industry, our Nation and the 
world. Many of us have lost someone--a friend, a relative, a 
colleague--to COVID-19. Since March 2020, sixteen JetBlue crewmembers 
have died as a result of the coronavirus. We join their families and 
friends in cherishing their memories. We will do our best to channel 
their passion to deliver on JetBlue's mission of Inspiring Humanity 
every day.
    Thank you for the opportunity to share my views and to add 
JetBlue's perspective to today's hearing.
                                 ______
                                 
       Prepared Statement of Ben Minicucci, CEO, Alaska Air Group
    Thank you, Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and distinguished 
members of the committee for the opportunity to submit written 
testimony for today's hearing. My name is Ben Minicucci and I am the 
CEO of Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines, Horizon 
Air and McGee Air Services. I am proud to represent our company and our 
22,000 employees across Alaska Air Group, nearly 14,000 of whom are 
represented by the Senators on this Committee.
Alaska Airlines is a major carrier that also serves as a lifeline for 
        smaller communities.
    Alaska Airlines is the 5th largest U.S. carrier. We are the only 
major airline based on the West Coast, with our headquarters in Seattle 
and additional hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and 
Anchorage. With more than 1,000 flights per day across North America--
spanning from Hawaii to Washington, D.C.--we operate and employ people 
in urban centers and rural areas across the U.S., as well as in Canada, 
Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica. As a member of the oneworld alliance, 
our passengers, whom we call guests, can reach over 1,000 destinations 
in more than 170 countries and territories.
    Since our founding in 1932, we have had a strong connection with 
our namesake State of Alaska. While we have experienced significant 
growth and expansion, today the state still accounts for approximately 
12 percent of our flying. We recognize the vital role we play as a 
lifeline for 20 communities in Alaska--only three of which are 
accessible by road. We are the only pre-deregulation passenger airline 
still operating dedicated freighter aircraft in the U.S. Throughout the 
pandemic, our cargo division has delivered essential goods, groceries 
and home supplies to communities across the State of Alaska, as well as 
vital health care supplies like masks, PPE, COVID-19 tests and 
ultimately over 1,000 shipments of COVID vaccines. In fact, we added 
new community air service in the State of Alaska to meet these needs 
during the pandemic.
    We are deeply committed to communities of all sizes and offer them 
an extensive route network that connects cities, people, and businesses 
across the U.S. and around the globe.
    Across Alaska Air Group we are committed to safety as our number 
one value, to exceptional caring service for our guests and 
communities, and to offering low fares enabled by maintaining low costs 
and running our business in a fiscally conservative way. We have held 
to these commitments over 90 years of business, and we are proud to be 
one of the few airlines that has never filed for bankruptcy.
We are grateful for PSP and our employees who are running a resilient 
        operation.
    We brought those same historical commitments and values to 
addressing the challenges brought on by the pandemic. The entire 
aviation industry--labor, airports, airlines and government--
collaborated in an unprecedented way to meet this moment.
    In 2020, at our lowest point at the outset of the pandemic, Alaska 
Airlines was carrying only 5,000 passengers each day where we normally 
carry 140,000 passengers per day. Financially at that point we were 
bringing in only 5 percent of normal revenues and we had a cash burn 
rate of $400 million per month. For 55 days straight, we had more 
cancellations than new ticket sales. In such a highly capital-intensive 
business such as aviation this was catastrophic, and we know that this 
impact was not unique to Alaska Airlines but happening to the entire 
industry.
    It took everyone collaborating and pulling together to turn the 
ship around. Today we are flying about 85 percent of our 2019 schedule 
after scaling back up at a measured pace. Our on-time performance, 
completion rates and guest satisfaction are all up compared to pre-
pandemic scores, and our operations rank among the top of the industry.
    That is why my message today is one of gratitude: Thank you to this 
committee, your staff and to all the officials who came together during 
a critical time in our global history. I appreciate the consideration 
and support you gave to airline employees and our industry through the 
Payroll Support Programs (PSP) \1\ and Direct Loan Program.\2\ As we 
said to many of you in March 2020, our goal was to use the assistance 
as wisely as possible, and to come out of the crisis as strong as we 
possibly could so we can continue our role as a critical part of 
America's economic infrastructure.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Alaska Air Group received a total of $2.27 billion in PSP 
funds, a combination of grants and loans. All funds were expended to 
cover payroll as of July 2021 and we have just under $600 million in 
outstanding loans to repay under this program.
    \2\ Alaska Air Group had access to $1.93 billion in loans under the 
Direct Loan Program in case of need--the company drew down on $135 
million in September 2020 and repaid that amount in full in June 2021. 
All collateral assets were released unencumbered back to the airline.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    More than 18 months later, I am proud to say this has been the 
outcome at Alaska Airlines. By directly supporting our employees 
through the PSP--a successful program built on collaboration with our 
unions and which preserved a level playing field across the industry--
Congress wisely invested in the future of aviation, our people and the 
economy.
    The Payroll Support Program allowed Alaska Air Group to:

  1.  Keep employees on staff.

  2.  Reduce our cash burn.

  3.  Scale our operation in a safe and measured way.

  4.  Run a strong and reliable operation that's near the top of the 
        industry.

    Airlines are not built to quickly ramp down and then ramp up again. 
PSP allowed us to prioritize protecting our company's core--our people 
and their families. It also enabled us to address the other intensive 
cost structures in our company to ensure we would weather the storm as 
one team.
    PSP allowed us to protect employees and keep them in their jobs. By 
keeping employees on staff, it reduced the time that would have been 
required to train people coming back to work--an effort that takes 
months and significant resources. PSP allowed us, with the short 
exception of the gap between PSP1 and PSP2 funding, to not 
involuntarily furlough any employees.\3\ We also worked with our labor 
partners on programs for some employees to take voluntary leaves, 
however, as of October 2021, every employee at Alaska Airlines who 
signed up for voluntary leave has been recalled. Additionally, the 
financial stability and flexibility provided by this government support 
to airlines allowed us to keep supporting the entire economic ecosystem 
and supply chain, including the aviation manufacturing industry and 
jobs, as well as the industries that support our operation in 
communities of all sizes. In short, PSP allowed us to scale back in a 
safe, reliable and measured way and then to rebuild when the economy 
and travelers were ready.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ All involuntarily furloughed employees between PSP1 and PSP2 
were recalled in compliance with the PSP2 requirements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I am tremendously grateful for the people and labor unions who have 
tirelessly contributed to Alaska Airlines' success in recovery. Folks 
in our operation have been working incredibly hard and we recognize the 
toll ramping down and ramping up again has taken on everyone. 
Throughout it all, they are running a resilient operation and showing 
remarkable care for our guests, even during an incredibly difficult 
time of continual challenge and change.
    The improved performance Alaska Air Group is operating today would 
not be a reality without the hard work of the more than 22,000 
employees who bring our airlines to life each day--rain or shine.
Our strong operational performance in 2021 is better than it was in 
        2019 and many categories rank among the top of the industry.
    Even as we have navigated through a choppy recovery, with variants 
and waves, our business today is strong and stable and we are confident 
in our operational and financial outlook.
    Alaska's approach from the beginning of the pandemic has been 
deliberate. We prioritized people, by protecting the health and safety 
of our employees and guests and bringing empathy and humanity to all 
our decisions and actions. And we ran a resilient operation, no matter 
the external circumstances.
    To put that into context, below are some of our operational 
performance metrics, which rank among the best in the airline industry:

   Over the last several months, we have scaled capacity back 
        up in a measured way. Over the summer we flew about 85 percent 
        of our pre-COVID capacity. Our plan going forward is to move in 
        a deliberate way to 2019 levels in the second quarter of 2022 
        and get back to growth later in the new year. We plan to hire 
        more than 3,000 people to support our growth plans.

   Year-to-date, we have completed 98.7 percent of our 
        scheduled flights, which is better reliability and a lower 
        percentage of canceled flights than at this time in 2019.

   Our DOT on-time rate is 84.5 percent, which is 2.4 points 
        higher than our 82.1 percent on-time rate YTD in 2019.

   And our guests have shown their appreciation for this 
        reliable service--our internal guest experience score of 80 
        percent is more than two points better than our YTD score in 
        2019 and we've exceeded internal targets every month this year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            2019 YTD         2021 YTD
                            through          through        Difference
                            November         November
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Passengers              47.5 million     33 million       -31%
Schedule completion     98.6%            98.7%            +0.1 pt
 rate
DOT on-time             82.1%            84.5%            +2.4 pts
 performance
Guest Experience        78%              80%              +2 pts
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Sustaining our high level of operational performance and guest 
satisfaction is a remarkable achievement given how complex re-ramping 
our operations has proven to be.
    When our operation does well, our employees do well. We are unique 
among most airlines in that we have performance-based rewards program 
for employees. Basically, it is an annual bonus that increases or 
decreases based on how we performed in the year. But unlike most 
companies who share year-end bonuses based only on profits, our bonus 
program is also driven by our operational metrics: safety, 
productivity, generating cash flow, and reducing carbon emissions. This 
company-wide program helps align us all around our goals that are 
important to our long-term ability to create jobs and serve our guests. 
Since this is not a purely profit-based plan, we are very excited that 
Alaska Airlines employees will be rewarded at the end of this year even 
as we are still recovering from our financial losses due to the 
pandemic precisely because of our strong operational performance.
Looking forward, we are doubling down on the way we care.
    Throughout the pandemic, we didn't lose track of what is important: 
Leading with our values. As we return to growth, it is an opportunity 
to rebuild responsibly and embed these values even deeper in our 
culture.
    In April 2021, the airline announced 2025 sustainability goals 
across the most important areas of impact for the company, including 
near-term goals to be the most fuel-efficient U.S. airline by 2025. The 
company also set a five-part path to net zero carbon emissions by 2040 
and established Alaska Star Ventures to identify and enable technology 
that can accelerate our path to net zero. That strategy leverages 
operational best practices and next-generation disruptive technology to 
transform and reduce the long-term climate impact of aviation--another 
area we will continue to need to partner with government on as we 
modernize in this next age of aviation.
    Now that we are hiring across the company again with an eye on 
growth, we are also focused on investing in and caring for our diverse 
workforce. We are monitoring and learning about how the workforce is 
changing and how we can support them as they take care of guests and 
operate a strong airline. We will see challenges and opportunities as 
we look to meet demand, but I am confident that we can all collaborate 
again and ensure we continue to have a world-class, highly qualified 
and talented aviation workforce.
    As the 5th largest U.S. airline, we believe in our ability to 
compete when there is a level playing field, but it is also important 
that aviation policy support competition and innovation in the 
industry. As you consider the aviation policy issues of the day, we 
would ask you to embrace policies that keep this federally regulated 
industry vibrant, including enhancing the ability for smaller carriers 
to gain access to facilities and markets, and refrain from policies and 
regulations that would discourage new service offerings, cause prices 
to needlessly increase, or disadvantage small communities.
    To close, thanks to Congress' collaboration and support, we have 
weathered the last nearly two years and at Alaska Air Group we believe 
in our enduring competitive advantages will continue to serve us well 
as we look to the recovery ahead--namely, owning safety, being fiscally 
conservative (offering low fares enabled by low costs), and strong 
guest loyalty based on our excellent operations, remarkable service and 
a culture of genuine care.
                                 ______
                                 
    In most American cities, the single largest worksite is the 
airport. The jobs created by the air travel industry have a tremendous 
impact on not only the national economy, but on communities--
particularly low-income communities of color--across the country. The 
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is committed to 
transforming traditionally low-wage, non-union airport jobs into good 
jobs that can sustain strong families and communities by:

  1.  Establishing a national wage standards floor for all airport 
        workers;

  2.  Establishing national standards for airport workers around issues 
        critical to both workers and the traveling public such as 
        access to affordable health care, sick days, measures to reduce 
        turnover, and training standards;

  3.  Securing a commitment from airlines that they will employ only 
        responsible contractors who adhere to these national standards 
        and respect the rights of workers; and

  4.  Ensuring that every airport worker in the country has the right 
        to form a union.

    Airport workers are on the frontlines of our Nation's aviation 
system, keeping passengers and communities safe from infectious 
disease, climate disasters impacting travel, and threats of violence 
and terrorism. Airport workers like wheelchair agents, cabin cleaners, 
security officers, and baggage handlers are largely people of color, 
immigrants, and women. Despite the critical role these workers play in 
our aviation system and continue to play on the frontlines of the 
COVID-19 pandemic, including making airports accessible as required by 
the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Aircarrier Access Act, they 
are often the lowest paid workers in airports. Airport workers like 
skycaps report making a tipped wage of just $2.13 an hour,\1\ and many 
of these essential workers do not have access to sick days, paid time 
off, or truly affordable health care.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Nick Natario, ``IAH contract workers still waiting for higher 
pay from United,'' ABC13 Eyewitness News, February 28, 2020. https://
abc13.com/iah-workers-pay-dispute-united-airlines/5975000/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEIU Footprint in Airports
    Over the past ten years, SEIU has been successfully organizing and 
engaging tens of thousands of airport workers at 31 major airports 
across the country. Many of these workers are employed by contractors. 
Since SEIU began organizing these airport workers, who are primarily 
people of color, women, and immigrants, nearly 154,000 airport workers 
have won raises and other improvements, including 146,000 who have won 
a path to at least $15 an hour. Many workers are on a path to much 
higher pay, including some with total compensation, including benefits, 
as high as $23.60 (see airport living wage rates chart). In the coming 
years we intend to advocate for improvements in pay, access to 
affordable health insurance, improved working conditions, and to help 
unionize 100,000 more airport workers.
What's Happening Now: Reports from the Field
    Airlines and contractors received billions of dollars to keep our 
Nation's aviation system ready for passengers to return to airports and 
reconnect with loved ones as the country reopened. Yet an investigation 
by the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis found that 
nearly 58,000 employees of airline contractors--nearly 35 percent of 
the workforce--were laid off or furloughed before federal aid was 
delivered.\2\ Only 5 percent of these workers had been recalled as of 
last summer,\3\ and significant problems remain, many of which are 
likely caused or exacerbated by low staffing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ ``Unnecessary Costs: How the Trump Administration Allowed 
Thousands of Aviation Workers to Lose Their Jobs,'' Select Subcommittee 
on the Coronavirus Crisis, October 9, 2020, page 5. https://
coronavirus.house.gov/sites/democrats.coronavirus.house.gov/files/
PSP%20Report%20Fi
nal.pdf
    \3\ Charles E. Schumer, Sherrod Brown, and Maria Cantwell, Letter 
to Steven Mnuchin, July 17, 2020. https://www.goiam.org/wp-content/
uploads/2020/07/PSPTreasuryImplementa
tionJuly152020FINAL.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The following examples of the impact of staffing shortages on 
airport workers were compiled from an August 2021 survey of SEIU 
members who serve the traveling public in our Nation's airports:

   Airport workers are working short-staffed. One worker 
        expressed concern about the workload caused by staffing 
        shortages, including not knowing when to ask for his break and 
        not having enough time to rest.

   Workers at many airports report mandatory overtime, which 
        can create significant and expensive child care issues that 
        make the work unsustainable.

   Transportation to airports is often poor or non-existent and 
        parking fees are significant, leading workers to choose jobs 
        that do not have the same transportation challenges.

   Some airport workers report they are being kept as part-time 
        employees, but also given mandatory overtime resulting in 
        unclear schedules. They would like to work a full-time schedule 
        with clearly defined schedules.

   Airport workers are being offered hiring bonuses or 
        attendance bonuses. At one Orlando Airport, workers report they 
        are being offered $500 if they are not late or do not miss a 
        shift, resulting in workers having to choose between coming to 
        work sick or not receiving the additional $500 bonus.

   Some workers are being offered higher wages, but have been 
        told the wages might just be temporary through the busy travel 
        season.

   Workers expressed concern with not having enough time to 
        take breaks or eat lunch because workers are expected to clock 
        out in a different terminal than where they take breaks. The 
        workload is so significant that workers also feel that it is 
        not possible to take breaks.

   One pregnant worker expressed concern with the lack of paid 
        maternity leave and the fear of possibly not being able to 
        return to the same position upon her return to work.

    Wages have stagnated and benefits remain limited or non-existent 
(see airport living wage rates chart) while work loads have increased 
at most airports. Airlines have the ability--and the responsibility--to 
end inequity and make airports safer and more secure for passengers and 
our communities. However, SEIU members who clean airplanes and 
facilities, care for disabled passengers, and secure terminals believe 
airlines will not exercise their power to improve working and traveling 
conditions without strong oversight and Federal standards that mandate 
it.
Eroding Worker Standards
    As a result of industry deregulation in 1978, airlines have used 
multiple strategies to reduce costs, in particular labor costs, which 
has resulted in substantial losses in compensation to airline workers. 
Airlines frequently use outsourcing as a means to ``both reduce wages 
in lower skilled occupations and improve their ability to lay off 
workers during slow times.'' \4\ By creating the subcontracting system, 
airlines have been able to push down wages.\5\ Under the system, 
contractors bid for work through an airline-run Request for Proposal 
(RFP) process. In the labor-intensive airport services industry, labor 
represents the majority of the cost of doing business. Therefore, the 
contractor who pays the least to workers most often offers the lowest-
priced bid, subsequently winning the contract. Overall, airlines have 
created a ``race-to-the-bottom'' whereby contractors cut wages in order 
to compete with one another.\6\ But in truth, race-to-the-bottom 
competition occurs in other areas as well. Contracting companies also 
compete on the basis of cutting health care,\7\ sick leave,\8\ and 
reducing investments in health and safety.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ ``Course Correction: Reversing Wage Erosion to Restore Good 
Jobs at American Airports,'' UC Berkeley Labor Center, October 2013, p. 
2.
    \5\ Ibid.
    \6\ ``Fix What is Broken,'' ITF & UNI Global Union, October 2018, 
pages 7, 13, 15. http://www.airportworkersunited.org/wp-content/
uploads/2018/10/AviationReport-FINAL.pdf
    \7\ ``Airport Workers--Majority Black and Immigrant--on Path to Win 
Health Care as NY State Legislature Passes Historic Bill,'' SEIU 32BJ 
Press Release, July 22, 2020. https://www.seiu32bj.org/press-release/
airport-workers-health-care-bill/
    \8\ ``Airline Contractor Flouting NYC Sick Leave Protections To Pay 
Workers Over $150,000 In Restitution,'' LaborPress.org, July 8, 2020. 
http://laborpress.org/airline-contractor-flouting-nyc-sick-leave-
protections-to-pay-workers-over-150000-in-restitution/
    \9\ ``Airport Safety Starts with Safer Working Conditions,'' New 
York Committee for Occupational Health, March 2015. http://nycosh.org/
wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Airport-Safety-Starts-with-Safer-Working-
Conditions.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The airlines' system of subcontracting incentivizes poor treatment 
of both workers and the public. And the system is widespread. Both 
airlines and airport authorities have increasingly shifted passenger 
services to third-party companies who compete vigorously to win lowest-
cost bid contracts.\10\ Both the absolute number and the share of 
outsourced jobs have increased substantially since 1978. By 1991, 16 
percent of jobs were outsourced; by 2001, 19 percent; by 2011, 26 
percent; and as of 2019, 31.5 percent of jobs were outsourced.\11\ In 
many major U.S. airports, there is no defined system specifically for 
regulating the quality, capacity, or volume of contractors allowed to 
operate on airport property.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ ``First-class Airport, Poverty-class Jobs,'' Puget Sound Sage, 
OneAmerica, Faith Action Network, and Working Washington, May 2012, 
pages 2 and 9-10. https://www.forworking
families.org/resources/publications/first-class-airport-poverty-class-
jobs
    \11\ ``Air Transportation Employment,'' U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, SEIU Analysis. https://www.bls.gov/ces/


    For example, in 2002, 75 percent of porters and bellhops, also 
known as skycaps, were directly employed by airlines and earned an 
inflation-adjusted equivalent of $27.18 per hour.\12\ In 2019, 96 
percent of those workers were employed by contractors and earned an 
average of $12.23 an hour.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, available at https://
www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.
    \13\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Passenger attendants--such as those workers that care for 
passengers requiring wheelchair assistance--are another case in point. 
In 2002, 41 percent of passenger attendants were directly hired by 
airlines and earned the inflation adjusted equivalent of $15.52 an 
hour, whereas the remaining 59 percent of those workers were contracted 
and earned the equivalent of $13.06.\14\ In 2019, 98 percent of 
passenger attendants were contracted and earned an average of $12.44 an 
hour.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\ Ibid.
    \15\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The dynamic is clear. Wages of outsourced workers decrease as 
airlines do more outsourcing. But the effects of outsourcing don't stop 
there: outsourcing also appears to drive down the wages of certain job 
classes as a whole--specifically the professions the industry targets 
for outsourcing most often--regardless of whether an individual airline 
has outsourced the job yet or not. For example, the wages for directly 
employed janitors--a profession that is typically heavily outsourced--
fell by nearly 30 percent during the 2002-2019 period.\16\ Meanwhile, 
airlines actually increased compensation for direct airline employees 
whose jobs are not typically outsourced by approximately 35 percent 
overall.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\ Ibid.
    \17\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Recent data appears to show an acceleration of outsourcing. In 
January 2018, the proportion of outsourced workers stood at 30.6 
percent.\18\ In January 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, that 
proportion stood at 32.06 percent.\19\ As of November 2020, the 
proportion of outsourced workers stood at 34 percent.\20\ The 
proportion of workers outsourced grew faster between April and May than 
at any other time since at least 1991.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \18\ Ibid.
    \19\ Ibid.
    \20\ Ibid.
    \21\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Staffing Issues During the Pandemic
American Airlines
    Although American Airlines has blamed labor shortages, in part, for 
massive flight delays, the airline was the only major commercial 
carrier to furlough pilots--1,600--during the pandemic.\22\ The airline 
reported that a total of 19,000 team members were furloughed starting 
October 1, 2020.\23\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \22\ Karl Evers-Hillstrom, ``Massive flight delays, cancellations 
prompt finger-pointing,'' The Hill, July 14, 2021. https://thehill.com/
policy/transportation/562879-massive-flight-delays-cancellations-
prompt-finger-pointing
    \23\ American Airlines Quarterly Report, third quarter ending 
September 30, 2020. https://americanairlines.gcs-web.com/sec-filings/
sec-filing/10-q/0000006201-20-000101
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In April 2020, The Dallas Morning News reported that 39,000 
American Airlines employees opted to take early retirement, voluntary 
leave, or reduced hours. Nearly 5,400 of those employees were pilots, 
including 715 who took early retirement. Almost 9,500 flight attendants 
took voluntary leave, among whom 823 took early retirement.\24\ In the 
first quarter of 2021, American reported an additional 1,600 employees 
had opted into a voluntary early retirement program.\25\ American also 
stated that it decreased its management and support staff team, 
including officers, by approximately 5,100 positions, or 30 
percent.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \24\ Kyle Arnold, ``39,000 American Airlines workers take early 
retirement, leave or reduced hours in face of COVID-19 pandemic,'' The 
Dallas Morning News, April 30, 2020. https://www.dallasnews.com/
business/airlines/2020/04/30/39000-american-airlines-workers-take-ear
ly-retirement-leave-or-reduced-hours-in-face-of-covid-19-pandemic/
    \25\ American Airlines Quarterly Report, first quarter ending March 
31, 2021. https://ameri
canairlines.gcs-web.com/sec-filings/sec-filing/10-q/0000006201-21-
000054
    \26\ American Airlines Annual Report, year ending December 31, 
2020. https://ameri
canairlines.gcs-web.com/sec-filings/sec-filing/10-k/0000006201-21-
000014
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    At the end of 2019, American reported that it employed 133,700 
active full-time equivalent employees.\27\ By the end of 2020, that 
number had fallen by more than 30,000, a reduction of more than 20 
percent of full-time employees.\28\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \27\ American Airlines Annual Report, year ending December 31, 
2019. https://ameri
canairlines.gcs-web.com/sec-filings/sec-filing/10-k/0000006201-20-
000023
    \28\ American Airlines Annual Report, year ending December 31, 
2020. https://ameri
canairlines.gcs-web.com/sec-filings/sec-filing/10-k/0000006201-21-
000014
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    But American does not appear intent on reversing that trend. The 
airline told investors that getting to ``cash breakeven'' will require 
``workforce flexibility following expiry of the [Paycheck Support 
Program].'' \29\ American Airlines President Robert Isom acknowledged 
in May at a Wolfe investor presentation that American intends to 
continue with a substantially reduced workforce that includes, as one 
example, single agents running boarding at gates. Isom declared, ``We 
think the team is up for the challenge.'' \30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \29\ American Airlines Current Report (8-K), March 8, 2021. https:/
/www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0000006201/000000620121000022/
aal-20210308.htm
    \30\ This is from an investor presentation which was posted on the 
American Airlines Investor Relations page. Unfortunately, the 
presentation is no longer publicly available.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Airlines
    United Airlines has also made major job cuts. In July 2020, Fox 
Business reported that 6,000 United Airlines employees had taken 
voluntary separation packages.\31\ Two months later, in September 2020, 
United reported that since the beginning of the pandemic a total of 
9,000 employees had opted into voluntary separation packages, 
retirement packages, or extended leaves of absence.\32\ Additionally, 
in the first quarter of 2021, approximately 4,500 employees elected to 
voluntarily separate from the company.\33\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \31\ Lucas Manfredi, ``United Airlines says more than 6,000 
employees take severance packages after $1.6B loss,'' Fox Business, 
July 21, 2020. https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/united-airlines-
says-more-than-6000-employees-take-severance-packages-aft er-1-6b-loss
    \32\ United Airlines Current Report, October 14, 2020. https://
ir.united.com/static-files/e0a68774-99bb-4e8d-b1e3-444a85d129d1
    \33\ United Quarterly Report, first quarter ending March 31, 2021. 
https://americanairlines.gcs-web.com/sec-filings/sec-filing/10-q/
0000006201-21-000054
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Despite receiving $7.7 billion in Payroll Support Program money--
funded by taxpayer dollars intended to retain employees during the 
pandemic--United announced bonuses for top executives and planned job 
cuts for thousands of unionized inflight catering workers based in 
Honolulu, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, and Newark. In May 2021, seven 
U.S. Senators--Hirono, Schatz, Brown, Blumenthal, Van Hollen, Menendez, 
and Booker--wrote letters to United's CEO Scott Kirby and U.S. Treasury 
Secretary Janet Yellen to prevent United from outsourcing 2,500 
catering jobs.\34\ But at the end of July, United announced that it 
planned to move forward with outsourcing the workers anyway.\35\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \34\ ``Hirono, Schatz, Brown, Blumenthal, Van Hollen, Menendez, 
Booker Call for United Airlines to Stop Outsourcing 2,500 Catering 
Jobs,'' Press Release, May 5, 2021. https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/
press-releases/hirono-schatz-brown-blumenthal-van-hollen-menendez-
booker-call-for-united-airlines-to-stop-outsourcing-2500-catering-jobs
    \35\ Tracy Rucinski and Sanjana Shivdas, ``United Airlines to 
outsource catering operations from October,'' Reuters, July 29, 2021. 
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/united-airlines-
outsource-catering-operations-october-2021-07-29/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TSA Infections
    While there isn't any regular tracking of COVID-19 infections among 
airline-contracted airport workers, it is clear that the public-facing 
nature of many jobs puts these workers at significant risk. The 
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does provide data on COVID 
infections and considering TSA agents also interact directly with the 
public, they are likely to have a similar risk level to other airport 
workers. As Forbes recently noted, ``The vast majority of TSA officers 
who become infected with the virus are screeners who come into contact 
with passengers and their belongings.'' \36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \36\ Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, ``Here's Why You Need To Wear A Face 
Mask At Airports And On Airplanes,'' Forbes, (August 4, 2021). https://
www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/08/04/covid-airport-tsa-
flights-surge/?sh=1567a4bc473c
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    According to an analysis of data on infections of TSA officers at 
the 30 largest airports in the US, the continued spread of the Delta 
variant appears to be increasing the risk for airport workers:

   In 2021, there has been an 80 percent increase in infections 
        (comparing January 1, 2021 to the current data). In the last 
        month alone, the number of infections increased by 10 percent.

   The rate of change of infections is not evenly spread and, 
        for example, several airports saw a roughly 20 percent increase 
        in the last month, including FLL, ATL, LAS, DFW. MIA and IAH 
        were at about 18 percent.

   In 2021 alone, several major airports have seen infections 
        rise by more than 100 percent (LGA, FLL, MCO, SFO, JFK). At 
        LAS, BWI, MIA, IAH, and EWR infections rose by rates well above 
        90 percent.\37\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \37\ Analysis of TSA COVID infections. https://docs.google.com/
spreadsheets/d/1aUhiYzp5E
esL6rpdUp5ld-b4cWnOpxdq/
edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101153717557407581469&rtpof=true&sd=
true
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Airlines Failed to Protect Workers and Passengers During the Pandemic
    A 2020 survey of nearly 900 frontline airport workers in 43 
airports finds health and safety measures fall short:\38\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \38\ SEIU Survey of Airport Workers, July-September 2020.

   One in five airport workers report receiving no PPE 
        whatsoever.\39\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \39\ Ibid.

   Only half report that their employer, an airline, or the 
        airport provide them with masks to cover their mouth and 
        nose.\40\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \40\ Ibid.

   69 percent report their employer failed to train them on how 
        to protect themselves and passengers from the virus.\41\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \41\ Ibid.

   66 percent report their employer failed to train them to 
        properly don and doff gloves, masks, and other PPE in order to 
        limit exposure to infection.\42\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \42\ Ibid.

   64 percent report their employer failed to train them how to 
        respond if they find a dangerous or contaminated item in the 
        cabin or the terminal.\43\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \43\ SEIU Survey of Airport Workers, July-September 2020.

   64 percent report their employer failed to train them to 
        protect themselves from blood-borne pathogens and infectious 
        diseases as they perform their job duties.\44\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \44\ Ibid.

   80 percent agree or strongly agree with the statement, 
        ``Working at the airport puts me at increased risk for 
        contracting COVID-19.'' \45\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \45\ Ibid.

   More than 50 percent report they are not given paid sick 
        days.\46\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \46\ Ibid.

   67 percent report experiencing pressure to work too quickly 
        or do more work than they believe is safe because there are not 
        enough staff.\47\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \47\ Ibid.

   Fewer than half agree with the statement, ``I can raise 
        concerns about workplace issues (i.e., safety and health, 
        cleaning, security, passenger service standards) without fear 
        of retaliation.'' \48\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \48\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The airline industry is squeezing not just workers but airports as well
    Airlines are cutting costs in a number of ways that not only affect 
the quality of workers' wages and working conditions, but also the 
quality of U.S. airports. In March 2021, Lance Lyttle, the Managing 
Director of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, urged lawmakers 
to provide additional support for airports. In his testimony, he 
specifically called for Congress to ``provide a path to sustainable 
airport investment through a long-overdue adjustment to the Federal cap 
on local PFCs.'' \49\ The federally authorized Passenger Facility 
Charge (PFC) program allows airports to collect a fee from each 
traveling passenger. These funds are then used to fund airport 
development projects. For the last 20 years, PFCs have been capped at 
$4.50 per passenger per flight segment,\50\ while construction costs 
have risen significantly.\51\ Unfortunately, rather than support an 
increase in PFCs, the airline industry has campaigned against any 
increase, blocking airports' access to needed capital for 
infrastructure projects.\52\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \49\ ``Lance Lyttle Opening Statement before the House Aviation 
Subcommittee,'' American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), 
March 2, 2021, at 4 minutes, 20 seconds. https://www.facebook.com/
watch/?v=725176868187511
    \50\ Jeff Davis, ``Study Commissioned by Congress Recommends 
Increasing Airport PFC Cap by $3 per Passenger'' Eno Center for 
Transportation, January 16, 2020. https://www.enotrans.org/article/
study-commissioned-by-congress-recommends-increasing-airport-pfc-cap-
by-3-per-passen
ger/
    \51\ Benjamin M. Miller, et al., ``US Airport Infrastructure 
Funding and Financing,'' Rand Corporation, January 2020, page xv. 
https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research
_reports/RR3100/RR3175/RAND_RR3175.pdf
    \52\ ``Stop Air Tax Now,'' Airlines for America, accessed March 2, 
2021. https://www.stop
airtaxnow.com/privacy-policy/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 ______
                                 

As the Largest U.S. Passenger Airline, American Airlines Is Critical to 
the U.S. Economy's Ability to Rebound From the Economic Turmoil Caused 
                        by The COVID-19 Pandemic

The CARES Act's Payroll Support of $7.6 Billion to American Airlines 
        Will Yield an Estimated $10.6-$12.3 Billion in Primary Benefits 
        to the U.S. Economy, and Facilitate an Additional $10.6 Billion 
        in Secondary GDP Benefits by Enhancing American's Ability to 
        Quickly Restore Capacity and Facilitate the Rebound in the U.S. 
        Economy

               Eric Amel, Darin Lee, and Ethan Singer\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See last page for author biographies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             April 3, 2020

Executive Summary
    U.S. passenger airlines play a critical role in the United States 
by enabling commerce and trade, connecting families and friends, 
transporting armed services personnel, and serving as a vital component 
for much of the Nation's tourism, leisure, and hospitality industry, 
the largest component of the U.S. economy.\2\ According to the U.S. 
Federal Aviation Administration (``FAA''), civil aviation in the United 
States drives 5 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (``GDP'') and 
helps to support over 10 million U.S. jobs (i.e., one of every 14 in 
the U.S. economy).\3\ During the current COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. 
passenger carriers--including American--have played a key role in 
transporting urgently needed medical equipment, medicine, and personnel 
to the most affected
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ See https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-
president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-
press-briefing-13/ statement of President Trump on March 27th, 2020 
(``. . . I also want to preserve airlines, because that's preserving 
lots of other jobs. That's preserving the travel and leisure industry, 
which is perhaps the largest industry in our country, if you add it all 
up. You add up all the hotels and all of the traveling and all the 
planes and everything else--probably, by far, the largest industry in 
our country.)
    \3\ Source: The Economic Impact of Civil Aviation in the U.S. 
Economy, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, January 2020, p.14.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    regions of the country,\4\ and have likewise provided emergency 
flights to repatriate U.S. citizens who were stranded abroad as 
countries began to close their borders and freeze travel in response to 
the rapidly spreading pandemic.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ On March 19, 2020, American Airlines announced that it would 
operate cargo-only flights to move goods, including medical supplies, 
between the U.S. and Europe. See http://news
.aa.com/news/news-details/2020/American-Airlines-Announces-Cargo-Only-
Flights-to-Help-Keep
-Business-Moving-OPS-DIS-03/default.aspx. In addition, American 
Airlines has partnered with the American Red Cross to raise funds for 
COVID-19 relief through offering air miles to Red Cross donors. See 
http://s21.q4cdn.com/616071541/files/doc_news/American-Airlines-
Supports-COVID-19-Efforts-Through-American-Red-Cross-COMM-VOL-03-
2020.pdf. On March 28, 2020, United Airlines announced that it would 
use its planes to transport medical supplies around the United States. 
See https://www.businessinsider.com/united-ceo-thanks-america-bail-out-
planes-deliver-medical-supplies-2020-3, statement by CEO Oscar Munoz 
(``Right now, aircraft flying the United livery and insignia, flown by 
our aviation professionals, have been repurposed to deliver vital 
medical supplies and goods to some of the places that need it most.'') 
Delta is providing free flights to medical volunteers to regions in the 
U.S. that have been highly impacted and operating cargo flights between 
the U.S. and China to maintain the medical supply chain. See https://
news.delta.com/supporting-front-lines-medical-volunteers-can-book-free-
flights
-georgia-louisiana-and-michigan and https://news.delta.com/new-delta-
cargo-flights-between-us-china-help-keep-medical-supply-chain-flying.
    \5\ For example, on March 19, 2020, after Haiti closed its two 
international airports, both American and JetBlue decided to offer 
repatriation flights (https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/
world/americas/haiti/article241442121.html). In addition, for the week 
of March 25th, American and United offered repatriation flights from 
various cities in Central and South America (https://hub.united.com/
united-helps-travelers-return-home--2645575499.html and http://
news.aa.com/news/news-details/2020/American-Airlines-Operating-
Repatriation-Flights-to-Get-Customers-Home-This-Week-OPS-DIS-03/
default.aspx).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Without healthy U.S. airlines that are in a position--both 
financially and operationally--to quickly restore flights once the 
pandemic in the United States has been contained, the recovery of the 
broader U.S. economy will be far slower than it could otherwise be, 
leaving millions of Americans unemployed or furloughed longer. 
Recognizing the unique and critical role that U.S. passenger airlines, 
including American, play in the Nation's economy--as well as how the 
need for social distancing and various Federal and state-mandated 
travel quarantines have crippled the industry virtually overnight--the 
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (``CARES'') Act 
affords U.S. passenger carriers $25 billion to keep their employees on 
their payrolls until September 30, 2020, when demand is anticipated to 
have begun rebounding. Without these funds, evaporating passenger 
demand--which has already resulted in one U.S. carrier liquidating\6\--
would leave U.S. carriers--including American--with no choice but to 
furlough a substantial majority of their employees, as many airlines 
around the world have already done.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ See ``Compass Airlines to cease operations in April,'' 
Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 19, 2020 (``Minneapolis-based Compass 
Airlines is shutting down operations in April due to the coronavirus 
outbreak. A statement from the company says Compass Airlines `has made 
the difficult decision to cease operations, effective April 7.' 
According to the statement, `Radical capacity reductions left Compass 
without the ability to fly even minimally viable schedules.' '')
    \7\ Several carriers outside of the United States have already 
announced massive layoffs because of COVID-19. In Canada, for example, 
the largest three carriers (Air Canada, WestJet, and Air Transat) have 
all announced massive furloughs. See ``More than 5,100 Air Canada 
flight attendants to be laid off amid massive COVID-19 slowdown,'' CBC, 
March 19, 2020 (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ more-
than-5-100-air-canada-flight-attendants-to-be-laid-off-amid-massive-
covid-19-slowdown-1.5504051), ``WestJet cuts 50 percent of its staff'', 
FlightGlobal, March 24, 2020 (https://www.flightglobal.com/strategy/
westjet-cuts-50-of-staff/137507.article), and ``Air Transat to lay off 
70 percent of workforce amid coronavirus pandemic'', Global News, March 
23, 2020 (https://globalnews.ca/news/6716946/air-transat-layoffs-coro
navirus/). Similarly, Australia's largest carrier Qantas is furloughing 
two thirds of staff (https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/
qantas-group-outlines-customer-and-employee-impact-of-coronavirus-
related-network-cuts/) and SAS has furloughed 90 percent of its 
workforce. See ``Airline SAS to half most traffic, temporarily lay off 
10,000 staff'', Reuters, March 25, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    American Airlines, along with its wholly-owned regional carriers 
Envoy, Piedmont, and PSA (collectively ``American''), is the largest 
U.S. carrier as measured by available seat miles (``ASMs''), accounting 
for approximately one in every five U.S. airline seats.\8\ American 
serves 237 U.S. destinations, including 211 small-and medium-sized U.S. 
communities (see Appendix).\9\ Moreover, American provides the only 
scheduled large network carrier service to 28 U.S. communities.\10\ As 
the single largest U.S. airline employer with over 130,000 employees 
(FTEs),\11\ American accounts for roughly 20 percent of the industry's 
overall economic impact. Indeed, because American spends, on average, 
over $39 million in employee wages and benefits each day,\12\ beyond 
the devastating effect these furloughs would have on airline employees, 
they also would have far reaching ripple effects throughout thousands 
of U.S. communities where spending by American's furloughed employees 
would be curtailed. Likewise, mass furloughs of American's team members 
would add to the already surging number of jobless claims throughout 
the U.S. economy,\13\ and impose even greater financial strain on all 
50 states' finances due to as many as one hundred thousand potential 
additional unemployment claims and reduced tax revenues.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ In 2019, American was the largest U.S. carrier as measured by 
systemwide seats, flights and available seat miles (``AMSs''). Source: 
OAG.
    \9\ Source: OAG for full year ending March 2020.
    \10\ Source: OAG. Small and medium communities are defined as 
airports having less than 1 percent of annual passenger boardings.
    \11\ See American Airlines 2019 Form 10-K, page 9.
    \12\ Source: U.S. DOT Form 41. The total salaries and benefits for 
American Airlines, Envoy, and PSA, for 2019 quarters 2 and 3 (the last 
two quarters available), increased by approximately 4 percent to 
estimate 2020 Q2 and Q3 levels. Piedmont Airlines, another regional 
carrier that is wholly owned by American, does not report to Form 41 
schedule p-6. Adding Piedmont would increase daily salaries and 
benefits by approximately $1.2 million per day.
    \13\ Jobless claims for last two weeks reached nearly 10 million in 
total, with 6.6 million claims for the week ending March 28 and 3.3 
million claims for the week ending March 21. In comparison, the week 
ending March 28, 2019 had 211,000 jobless claims. See U.S. Department 
of Labor News Release, April 2, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    By ensuring that American is able to keep its employees on its 
payrolls for the next six months, the CARES Act provides a critical and 
essential bridge for American and their employees so that they are in 
the position to provide the most efficient, effective, and economical 
air service to fuel the U.S. economy's rebound. Importantly--and as 
detailed in the remainder of this white paper\14\--the primary 
quantifiable economic benefits of American's award of $7.6 billion in 
payroll assistance are estimated at between $10.6 and $12.3 billion in 
direct economic value to the U.S. Treasury,\15\ State Treasuries, and 
the broader U.S. economy, depending on the assumed level of furloughs 
at American in the absence of the CARES Act's grants.\16\ This includes 
$4.0-$5.7 billion of increased state and Federal tax revenue, avoided 
unemployment insurance payments, and increased spending flowing 
directly from the payment of American's employees' wages over the next 
six months.
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    \14\ In a companion whitepaper prepared at the request of Airlines 
for America (``A4A'') we studied the economic impact of the CARES Act's 
payroll protections for the entire U.S. passenger airline industry. See 
``U.S. Passenger Airlines Are Critical to the U.S. Economy's Ability to 
Rebound From the Economic Turmoil Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic'', 
Eric Amel, Darin Lee and Ethan Singer, (``Compass Lexecon Airline 
Industry CARES Study''). The analysis contained in this study applies 
the same methodological approaches used in the Compass Lexecon Airline 
Industry CARES Study to the employees of American, the largest U.S. 
passenger airline.
    \15\ American's application is for $7.6 billion in payroll support. 
Nevertheless, even if American's pro-rata share of the CARES Act's $25 
billion in industrywide payroll support is less than $7.6 billion, the 
benefits described in this whitepaper will not be reduced, as American 
is required to keep its employees on its payroll for the next six 
months.
    \16\ As discussed below, absent the CARES Act, American has 
determined that it would furlough between 60 percent and 85 percent of 
its employees due to evaporating demand for its flights.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Moreover, American's application under the CARES Act will pay 
countless other dividends to the U.S. economy by incenting and enabling 
American to restore capacity faster than it otherwise would, resulting 
in a more rapid, robust, and resilient economic rebound throughout the 
broader U.S. economy once the COVID-19 pandemic ends. During the last 
three months of the payroll protection period, for example, assuming 
that lower marginal costs of operating a flight due to the CARES Act 
incents and enables American to restore 10 percentage points more of 
their pre-COVID-19 capacity than it otherwise would have,\17\ the 
quantification of just three of the additional benefits of this 
incremental American capacity (i.e., additional supply chain activity, 
domestic traffic stimulation, and more international visitors) brings 
the total economic benefit to the U.S. economy during the period of the 
payroll support to $5.0-$6.6 billion. Another significant--albeit 
unquantified--benefit of the CARES Act's payroll support to American is 
the fact that American will be required to maintain critically 
important scheduled air service to hundreds of U.S. cities, including 
many remote small- and medium-size communities that rely on air 
transportation linkages for critical health and safety needs, as well 
as for connectivity to the rest of the country (and the world).\18\ 
Absent the payroll assistance, many of these small U.S. communities 
would undoubtedly lose their air service on American and all of the 
associated benefits that come with it, and for those communities served 
only by American (e.g., Abilene, Texas, Garden City, Kansas, etc.), 
they would be cut off entirely from the Nation's scheduled air 
transportation network.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \17\ By way of example, if American had reduced its capacity to 15 
percent of its pre-pandemic capacity absent the CARES Act, it is 
reasonable to assume that the lower marginal costs resulting from the 
CARES Act would incent and enable American to supply 25 percent of its 
pre-pandemic capacity.
    \18\ See CARES Act, Sec. 4005, Continuation of Certain Air Services 
(``When considering whether to exercise the authority granted by this 
section, the Secretary of Transportation shall take into consideration 
the air transportation needs of small and remote communities and the 
need to maintain well-functioning health care and pharmaceutical supply 
chains, including for medical devices and supplies.'') Among the scores 
of small remote communities that American serves are: Texarkana, 
Arkansas; San Angelo, TX; Dubuque, Iowa; Stillwater, Oklahoma; 
Salisbury, Maryland; Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    However, these economic dividends will not end on September 30. 
Because the CARES Act will position U.S. passenger airlines, including 
American, to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic with their workforces 
both intact and highly motivated to lead the economic recovery, there 
is every reason to believe that carriers will be both incented and able 
to continue supplying more capacity than they otherwise would as the 
economy's rebound accelerates.\19\ Put differently, because the CARES 
Act provides American six more months to secure additional private 
funding which, in turn, will better position it to retain their highly-
skilled workforces so that they are poised to grow, it will help to 
minimize the number of involuntary furloughs and pay reductions that 
may be required in the fall if the negative demand effects of the 
COVID-19 pandemic persist beyond that time. Including the longer-term 
benefits from American's incremental capacity (i.e., additional supply 
chain activity, domestic traffic stimulation, and more international 
visitors) over the two years following the period of the payroll 
support brings the total primary economic benefits to the U.S. economy 
to between $10.6 billion and $12.3 billion.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \19\ On the other hand, in the absence of the CARES Act, carriers 
including American would not only be forced to engage in mass 
furloughs, but would also seek to reduce the wages and benefits of 
their remaining employees, resulting in disheartened and demoralized 
work forces. Based on the U.S. airline industry's experience following 
previous negative shocks (e.g., September 11th), this would leave U.S. 
carriers severely handicapped in their ability to respond to the 
anticipated return of demand once the pandemic ends. See, e.g., 
``Relationships, Layoffs, and Organizational Resilience: ``Airline 
Industry Responses to September 11'', by Jody Hoffer Gittell, Kim 
Cameron, Sandy Lim, and Victor Rivas, The Journal of Applied Behavior 
Science, 42 (3), 2006, pp. 300-329 (``The presence of adequate 
financial reserves reduces the need to rely on layoffs, thus preserving 
relational reserves among employees, which boost an organization's 
ability to bounce back after a crisis has passed.'')
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Finally, in addition to the primary impacts of a larger and more 
robust airline industry discussed above, the CARES Act will generate 
significant secondary (or ``spillover'') benefits by facilitating more 
face-to-face business meetings and other economic activity that will no 
doubt lead to an accelerated economic recovery by spurring investment, 
employment, and innovation in all sectors of the economy. Even under 
highly conservative assumptions regarding these spillover effects, the 
CARES Act-enabled capacity offered by American can be expected to 
increase annual U.S. GDP by an average of 0.02 percent over the two 
years following the end of the grant period, equivalent to $10.6 
billion.\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \20\ The secondary GDP spillover effect for American is based on 
its pro-rata share (based on ASMs) of the U.S. airline industry's 
impact calculated in the Compass Lexecon Airline Industry CARES Study, 
which conservatively estimated an average GDP impact of 0.1 percent for 
the entire industry over the two years following the end of the 
employee payroll support period.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Figure 1 below summarizes both the primary and secondary economic 
benefits of the CARES Act's payroll support for American's employees 
assuming that absent the Act, plummeting demand as a result of the 
COVID-19 pandemic would have compelled American to furlough between 60 
and 85 percent of its employees. Under these furlough assumptions, 
Figure 1 shows that the total primary benefits of American's 
application range from $10.6 billion (assuming avoided furloughs of 60 
percent) to $12.3 billion (assuming avoided furloughs of 85 percent). 
Including the secondary impacts on GDP, the total benefits range from 
$21.2 billion (assuming avoided furloughs of 60 percent) to $22.9 
billion (assuming avoided furloughs of 85 percent).
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, U.S. Passenger Airlines Were the Most 
        Efficient in the World
    Over the past decade, the U.S. airline industry has become the most 
efficient in the world, with (1) capacity utilization and passenger 
levels at historically high rates,\21\ (2) airfares at their lowest 
levels in history,\22\ and (3) record high levels of customer 
satisfaction.\23\ U.S. carriers' ability to profitably achieve this 
trifecta--while simultaneously increasing the number of airline 
employees and average compensation\24\--is a testament to their high 
degree of efficiency.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \21\ Capacity utilization, as measured by U.S. industry-wide load 
factor, reached 84.2 percent in 2019--an all-time high, and 12.0 
percentage points higher than in 2000. Source: Bureau of Transport 
Statistics, T1 database for all scheduled passenger U.S. carriers. Load 
factor is a standard industry utilization measure defined as revenue 
passenger miles (RPMs) divided by available seat miles (ASMs). An ASM 
is one seat flown one mile, and an RPM is one passenger flying one 
mile.
    \22\ See https://www.bts.gov/newsroom/third-quarter-2019-air-fare-
data, noting that ``U.S. domestic air fares in the third quarter of 
2019 of $345 were the lowest on record, inflation adjusted, based on 
Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) records dating from 1995.''
    \23\ For example, the 2019 Airline Quality Rating study by Embry 
Riddle University was ``the best AQR score in the 29-year history of 
the rating.'' Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, ``Airline Quality 
Rating 2019,'' Brent D. Bowen and Dean E. Headley, April 2019 (page 8). 
Likewise, JD Power study showed record-high customer satisfaction in 
2019, ``continuing an eight-year trend of satisfaction improvement.'' 
See JD Power North America Airline Satisfaction Study, 2019.
    \24\ Passenger airline employment has been growing steadily since 
2010 with approximately 70,000 new jobs added over this period. Over 
this period, average compensation (wages and benefits) per airline 
employee has increased from $90,000 to $132,000. Source: U.S. DOT 
Form41 schedule P1(a) and schedule P-6. Salaries and benefits per 
employee through full year ending 2019Q3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2019, U.S. airlines carried close to 930 million passengers--the 
highest number ever.\25\ To meet growing passenger demand, U.S. 
carriers expanded their capacity by 26.2 percent from 2010 to 2019, and 
until the COVID-19 epidemic, were on track to expand capacity by over 
five percent in 2020.\26\ And during January and February of this year, 
U.S. carrier traffic grew on a year-over-year basis by 2.2 percent for 
the two months combined.\27\ As a result, U.S. airlines have 
experienced near record high load factors.\28\ American's performance 
during the first two months of 2020 mirrored those of the broader U.S. 
airline industry. For example, prior to March, American had planned to 
grow its domestic capacity by 6.5 percent in 2020 and its international 
capacity by 3.6 percent,\29\ and American's systemwide load factor in 
January and February reached 80.5 percent and 79.0 percent, 
respectively, the highest the carrier had ever experienced for these 
two months combined.\30\ American had also planned to take delivery of 
69 new aircraft in 2020, and had orders for an additional 184 aircraft 
beyond that.\31\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \25\ Sources: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (https://
www.bts.gov/newsroom/december-2019-us-airline-traffic-data); U.S. DOT 
T1 database; U.S. DOT 298C database.
    \26\ See, e.g., Cowen Equity Research, ``2020 Skyscape: In Line For 
Another Good Year Despite Concerns Of Max Re-Entry,'' Jan. 3, 2020,'' 
p. 1, predicting a 5.4 percent capacity increase, Barclays Equity 
Research, ``North America Airlines Through from 4Q2019 Earnings,'' Feb. 
4, 2019, p. 3, forecasting 5.7 percent growth, and Raymond James, 
``Global Airlines Outlook: 2020 Vision,'' p. 13, forecasting 6 percent 
U.S. domestic capacity growth in 2020.
    \27\ Average daily traffic growth for A4A members. A4A members 
include Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, United, and 
Southwest. Source: A4A data.
    \28\ A4A member carriers had load factors in January and February 
of 80.2 percent and 79.5 percent, respectively, for a combined 79.9 
percent to start the year. The January/February 2020 load factor of 
79.9 percent was only previously achieved in January/February 2014 with 
an 80.0 percent load factor. Source: A4A data and U.S. DOT T100.
    \29\ Source: OAG data for American as of March 5, 2020. Includes 
flights marketed by American. Capacity measured as ASMs.
    \30\ American Airlines, Envoy, Piedmont and PSA operations data and 
U.S. DOT T100.
    \31\ Source: American Airlines.
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COVID-19 Pulled the Rug from Under U.S. Airlines' Feet
    Even before the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, 
American had begun to experience a noticeable reduction in 
international demand starting in February of this year (first to Asia, 
and then to Europe). Until early March, however, U.S. passenger 
airlines were able to weather the impact of Covid-19, as the negative 
demand impact had not spilled over to the domestic market. Over the 
course of ten days starting around March 8, however, airline demand 
went into a freefall as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the 
United States became widely apparent and Federal, state, and local 
officials across the country began to urge the public to engage in 
social distancing and to stay at home.\32\ Likewise, starting on March 
11, the Transportation Security Administration (``TSA'') began to issue 
statements reporting on airport security screeners testing positive for 
Covid-19, and for the 14-day period ending March 28, 2020, there were 
49 TSA screening officers at 17 different airports that tested 
positive.\33\ As a result of these factors, U.S. carrier flights went 
from being approximately 80 percent full to less than 20 percent full 
on average even as U.S. carriers cancelled almost half of all 
flights,\34\ and the few passengers that did travel over this period 
were primarily those rushing home to wait out the pandemic. Thus, on 
each of the last seven available days of data from TSA (Thursday March 
26-Wednesday, April 1, 2020), TSA security screened 8 percent or fewer 
of the number of travelers that it screened on the equivalent days from 
2019.\35\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \32\ On March 8, Dr. Anthony Fauci--Director of the National 
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases--advised older adults and 
those with underlying health conditions to avoid air travel. On March 
11, President Trump announced travel restrictions between the United 
States and Europe (excluding the UK and Ireland), and, three days 
later, extended those restrictions to all of Europe. On March 12, the 
CDC began to advise the public to avoid groups of 250 or more people, 
which was revised to 50 people on March 15 and only 10 people on March 
16. On March 16, the White launched its 15 Day to Stop the Spread 
campaign advising the public to ``Listen to and follow the direction of 
your state and local authorities'', many of which subsequently 
instructed their individuals to either shelter in place and/or 
quarantine themselves after traveling from another state. See https://
dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/pressreleases/2020/cdcguidance_030
920.html, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-
donald-j-trump-taken-un
precedented-steps-respond-coronavirus-protect-health-safety-americans/, 
https://www.whitehouse
.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-
members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing/, https://www.cdc.gov/
coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/community-mitigation-strategy.pdf, 
https://www.whitehouse.gov/ briefings-statements/remarks-president-
trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-
briefing-3/ and https://www
.whitehouse.gov/articles/15-days-slow-spread/.
    \33\ Source: https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/
    \34\ Source: A4A data and MasFlight, comparing the number of 
completed flights on March 28th, 2020 versus the average number of 
completed flights for the week ending February 15, 2020.
    \35\ See https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passenger-throughput.
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Over this period of time, American has seen its passenger numbers 
plummet to levels the carrier has never experienced (other than the 
handful of days directly after September 11th that the Nation's air 
transportation system was shut down entirely). As shown in Figure 3, as 
recently as March 1, 2020, American carried over 600,000 passengers on 
a single day, and enjoyed load factors on some recent days (e.g., March 
1) as high as 83 percent. By Wednesday April 1, American carried only 
33,341 passengers (a mere 7 percent of the number they carried four 
Wednesdays earlier), resulting in a load factor on April 1 of only 10 
percent.\36\ Faced with only a shrinking sliver of passengers relative 
to its capacity, American has already dramatically pulled down its 
schedule and will soon have over 380 aircraft out of service and 
parked.\37\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \36\ Source: American Airlines consolidated operations data.
    \37\ Source: American Airlines.
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    To make matters worse all evidence points to the demand for air 
travel all but disappearing in the coming days, weeks and potentially 
months as more local authorities adopt increasingly aggressive counter-
measures on a daily basis (including quarantining out-of-state visitors 
or attempting to ban them all together) to slow the spread of COVID-19 
and travelers continue to heed to the pleas of government and public 
health officials to engage in social distancing and stay at home to 
``flatten the curve.'' Indeed, for the first time in U.S. history, the 
Federal government, along with 37 states (plus Washington, D.C. and 
Puerto Rico) comprising over 294 million people (about 89 percent of 
the U.S. population),\38\ have issued ``stay at home'' orders, and, as 
of April 1, these orders will be in place until at least April 30. 
These ``stay at home orders'' apply to each of American's hub cities 
(i.e., New York, Dallas, Charlotte, Chicago, Miami, Washington D.C., 
Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Philadelphia). And even if--under the best-
case scenario--the United States ``re-opens'' for business by May, vast 
portions of the traveling public--including those aged 65 and those 
that have an underlying health condition--will be reluctant to return 
to traveling until public health officials can assure them that the 
risk of contracting the coronavirus is minimal (e.g., when a reliable 
vaccine has been developed and is widely available),\39\ or until other 
therapeutics or drugs to treat, cure or prevent COVID-19 becomes 
available.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \38\ See https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-
stay-at-home-order.html (accessed on April 1, 2020).
    \39\ The CDC has identified several groups of individuals at high 
risk of serious complications--including death--should they be infected 
by COVID-19. These include adults aged 65 years and older, or persons 
(of any age) with diabetes, chronic lung disease, cancer, 
immunodeficiency, heart disease, hypertension, asthma, kidney disease, 
and liver disease. These groups comprise a large portion of the U.S. 
population. For example, there are approximately 49.2 million people in 
the United States aged 65 and older (i.e., 15.2 percent of the 
population), 26.8 million people in the United States with diabetes, 
33.2 million with chronic lung disease, and 23.3 with cancer (CDC, U.S. 
Census, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/popproj/2017-
summary-tables.html, https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pdfs/data/statistics/
national-diabetes-statistics-report.pdf, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/
fastats/cancer.htm, and American Lung Association, https://
www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/estimated-prevalence-and-
incidence-of-lung-dis-(1)/methodology. It is reasonable to assume that 
a portion of these high-risk individuals will avoid traveling by air 
until they are immune (by virtue of recovering from COVID-19) or until 
a vaccine is available, and as a result will reduce airline demand 
substantially.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Decline in Passenger Traffic Is Unprecedented in Aviation History 
        and Can Be Expected to Last for Several Months If Not Longer
    Based on the bookings for future air travel of the U.S. 
carriers,\40\ the mass layoffs throughout the economy that have already 
commenced \41\ and are certain to continue,\42\ and the fact that 
governments across the United States and around the globe are placing 
onerous restrictions on inbound travelers or restricting travel 
altogether,\43\ there is every reason to believe that demand for air 
travel will be suppressed for the foreseeable future.\44\ Indeed, 
American's forward bookings for April and May travel paint an even 
bleaker picture than March, and portend even deeper cuts in capacity as 
what little demand for air travel there exists today dries up almost 
completely.\45\ Sustained declines in airline demand of this magnitude 
are simply unprecedented.\46\ By way of comparison, in September 2001--
in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks--U.S. carrier 
traffic fell by approximately 34 percent vs. September 2000, but 
improved (versus the year prior) to -22 percent in October, -19 percent 
in November and -14 percent in December 2001.\47\ Likewise, during the 
nadir of the Great Recession, passenger traffic for U.S. carriers fell 
(year-over-year) by at most 13 percent (in November 2008 and February 
2009).\48\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \40\ The number of bookings made for future travel for U.S. 
carriers have declined by over 90 percent for the week ending 3/22/2020 
compared to the same week last year. Source: ARC DDS Data.
    \41\ ``In the week ending March 28, the advance figure for 
seasonally adjusted initial claims was 6,648,000, an increase of 
3,341,000 from the previous week's revised level. This marks the 
highest level of seasonally adjusted initial claims in the history of 
the seasonally adjusted series. The previous week's level was revised 
up by 24,000 from 3,283,000 to 3,307,000.'' The previous high, before 
the nearly 10 million total initial claims in the last two weeks was 
695,000 in October of 1982. See U.S. Department of Labor News Release, 
April 2, 2020 and U.S. Department of Labor News Release, March 26, 
2020.
    \42\ According to one estimate prepared by the Federal Reserve Bank 
of St. Louis, the unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2020 could 
reach 32.1 percent. See https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2020/
march/back-envelope-estimates-next-quarters-unemployment-rate
    \43\ See, e.g., ``COVID-19 Updated Impact Assessment'', Brian 
Pearce, Chief Economist, IATA, March 24, 2020 (``IATA COVID-19 Updated 
Impact Assessment''), page 2, noting that globally ``Markets with 
severe restrictions [quarantine for arriving passengers, partial travel 
ban, or border closure] cover over 98 percent of global passenger 
revenues''. On March 14, President Trump extended the European travel 
ban to include the UK and Ireland (https://www.whitehouse.gov/
briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-
members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing/). Since March 25 and 
March 26, 2020, Alaska and Hawaii, respectively, ordered that 
individuals arriving at their airports must self-quarantine for 14 days 
(https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2020/03/24/coronavirus-
travel-restrictions-isolation-florida-hawaii-alaska/2906751001/). 
Similarly, on March 27, 2020, Florida extended its 14-day self-
quarantine order, currently including individuals coming from New York, 
New Jersey, and Connecticut, to Louisiana (https://www.usnews.com/news/
best-states/florida/articles/2020-03-27/florida-orders-louisiana-
arrivals-into-quarantine).
    \44\ For example, according to IATA, even in countries have 
successfully contained the coronavirus such as China and South Korea, 
the number of forward bookings as of March 19 is down approximately 70 
percent year over year. See ``IATA COVID-19 Updated Impact Assessment, 
page 7.
    \45\ Source: American Airlines.
    \46\ See, e.g., ``Airline bookings: unprecedented slowdown in 
travel'', Bank of America Securities Research Report, March 23, 2020.
    \47\ Source: U.S. DOT T-100 data.
    \48\ Source: U.S. DOT T-100 data.
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    In response to the unprecedented decline in demand and uncertainty 
as to when demand may start to return, U.S. airlines have already 
announced substantial reductions in capacity. For example, Delta 
recently announced a ``70 percent pullback of systemwide capacity'' 
\49\; United announced that it has cut April capacity by more than 60 
percent and is ``planning even to make even deeper cuts in May and 
June'' \50\; and Alaska announced capacity reductions of approximately 
70 percent for April and May.\51\ Likewise, American has already 
announced that it ``will suspend 60 percent of its capacity in April as 
compared to the same period in 2019 and is planning to suspend up to 80 
percent of its capacity in May compared to the same
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \49\ See, Delta 8-K March 18, 2020 https://
d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0000027904/66eddca5-a6ab-45b6-add8-
ff779c8c5c44.pdf.
    \50\ See, ``A Message From Oscar Munoz and Scott Kirby'', PR 
Newswire on March 27, 2020. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-
message-from-oscar-munoz-and-scott-kirby-30103
1125.html
    \51\ See, Alaska News Release on March 25, 2020. https://
investor.alaskaair.com/news-releases/news-release-details/alaska-
airlines-announces-schedule-reductions-and-other-changes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
period in 2019.'' \52\ Moreover, American is closely monitoring the 
evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic (and its likely impact on airline 
demand) and fully expects to announce even deeper capacity cuts if the 
pandemic's currently trajectory does not materially improve in the near 
future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \52\ See, ``American Airlines Announces Additional Schedule 
Suspensions in Response to Reduced Customer Demand Related to COVID-
19'', American Airlines press release on March 27, 2020. http://
news.aa.com/news/news-details/2020/American-Airlines-Announces-
Additional-Schedule-Suspensions-in-Response-to-Reduced-Customer-Demand-
Related-to-Covid-19-OPS-DIS-03/default.aspx. American's plans with 
respect to future capacity are being refined weekly and may be larger 
than those predicted on March 27.
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Absent the CARES Act Payroll Protection, American Would Have Had No 
        Choice but to Furlough a Substantial Majority of Their 
        Employees
    With the overwhelming majority of airline passengers indefinitely 
sidelined due to government or corporate travel restrictions and/or a 
fear of flying until the COVID-19 pandemic has been contained, 
American, like other U.S. airlines, would have no choice but to 
furlough a substantial majority of their more than 130,000 employees, 
as American would quickly run out of cash if it continued to fly empty 
planes.\53\ Because the exact amount of likely furloughs absent the 
employee grants in the CARES Act is unknown and would depend on the 
speed at which the pandemic is contained and when the unprecedented 
decline in consumer travel demand abates, American believes that absent 
the CARES Act, it would have furloughed between 60 percent and 85 
percent of American's employees. Under any of these scenarios, the 
consequences to airline employees and communities throughout the United 
States will be immense, with between 78,000-110,000 current American 
employees left without jobs, leading to increased burdens on state and 
Federal unemployment programs (and forcing some onto Medicaid), 
decreased consumer spending, and increased mortgage defaults, and the 
potential loss of air service to many small communities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \53\ As noted earlier, the coronavirus pandemic has already 
resulted in one U.S. regional carrier--Compass Airlines--shutting down.
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The Primary Quantifiable Benefits to the U.S. Treasury, State 
        Treasuries and the U.S. Economy of Guaranteeing That American's 
        Employees 
        Remain on the Airline's Payrolls for the Next Six Months Will 
        Range from $10.6-$12.3 Billion
    The CARES Act recognizes that, through no fault of its own, U.S. 
airlines and their employees have seen the demand for their service 
evaporate virtually overnight. And because airlines are the engine of 
much of the Nation's economic activity, the CARES Act provides $25 
billion in grants for U.S. passenger airlines, including American, to 
continue to keep their employees on their payrolls. Today, American 
directly employs more than 130,000 people (Full-Time-Equivalents) and 
pays out, on average, over $39 million of salaries and benefits each 
day.\54\ American has employees living in all 50 states, plus U.S. 
territories including Puerto Rico.\55\ In addition American is a 
significant employer of U.S. veterans, and also has numerous 
employees--particular pilots--that actively serve in the U.S. 
Reserves.\56\ As shown in Figure 4, American's employees are dispersed 
throughout the entire country, and hence, the incomes they receive and 
the corresponding local economic impact reaches all corners of the 
country and is felt in both large urban areas as well as hundreds of 
smaller U.S. communities. In 2019, there were over 3,400 unique zip 
codes across the country that were home to American employees who--
collectively--accounted for more than $0.5 million of annual 
income,\57\ and over 1,800 zip codes with over $1 million in annual 
employee income.
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    \54\ Headcount is for full year 2019 from American Airlines 2019 
SEC 10K filing, p. 9. Salaries and benefits based on U.S. DOT Form 41 
(schedule p-6) for American Airlines, Envoy, and PSA combined. The 
total salaries and benefits for 2019 quarters 2 and 3 (the last two 
quarters available) are increased by approximately 4 percent to 
estimate 2020 Q2 and Q3 levels. Piedmont Airlines, another regional 
carrier that is wholly-owned by American, does not report to Form 41 
schedule p-6. Adding Piedmont increases daily salaries and benefits by 
approximately $1.2 million per day.
    \55\ Source: American Airlines, Envoy, PSA and Piedmont W-2 tax 
data for 2019.
    \56\ American, including its wholly owned regional carriers, Envoy, 
PSA, and Piedmont, employs a total of over 8,000 veterans, many of who 
also serve in the reserves. Source: American Airlines.
    \57\ Source: Analysis of American Airlines, Envoy, PSA and Piedmont 
W-2 tax data for 2019.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    The impact of American's employees on the local economies where 
American has hubs is particularly significant. For example, Figure 5 
shows that the impact of American employees' incomes is also dispersed 
widely across the metro areas and communities surrounding American hub 
cities, with virtually every zip code in the Dallas, Miami, Charlotte, 
New York, Tulsa and Los Angeles metro areas, among others, home to 
American airline employees. As detailed below, these incomes support 
the livelihoods of not only airline employees and their families, but 
also, countless other individuals and small businesses in the same 
communities (and elsewhere) who benefit from the goods and services 
American's employees purchase.\58\
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    \58\ As discussed below, each dollar of airline wages generates 
approximately $0.50 in additional economic activity throughout the 
economy as the wages of the airline employees are spent and recirculate 
throughout the economy.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    American is a substantial employer in each of its hub cities (plus 
Tulsa, where American operates a large aircraft maintenance base), and 
thus, contributes significantly to the economic vitality of the city 
and its surrounding area. Consequently, absent the CARES Act, mass 
furloughs of American's employees would deal another crippling blow to 
their already hard-hit economies reeling from two weeks spiking jobless 
claims. For example:\59\
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    \59\ In addition to the examples of Dallas, Charlotte and Tulsa, 
substantial numbers of American employees reside in the metropolitan 
areas (CBSAs) surrounding American's other hubs: approximately 12,000 
in Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach; 9,000 in Phoenix; 8,000 in 
Chicago; 6,000 in New York; 6,000 in Philadelphia; 5,000 in Los Angeles 
and 3,000 in Washington D.C. Source: American Airlines, Envoy, Piedmont 
and PSA 2019 W-2 data.

   Dallas/Fort-Worth: With over 31,000 employees residing in 
        the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area in 2019, American is 
        the region's largest employer.\60\ In just the last two weeks, 
        Texas reported over 430,000 new initial unemployment claims, 
        more than 17 times the amount the area experienced over a two-
        week period in March 2019.\61\
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    \60\ Includes employees residing in the Dallas-Fort-Worth-Arlington 
CBSA. Sources: American Airlines, Envoy, Piedmont and PSA 2019 W-2 
data; Dallas Business Journal, ``North Texas Largest Employers,'' July 
26, 2019, https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/subscriber-only/2019/07/
26/dallas-fort-worth-largest-employers.html.
    \61\ See U.S. Department of Labor News Release, April 2, 2020 and 
https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/archive.asp

   Charlotte: CLT is American's second-largest hub airport and 
        the metropolitan area is home to almost 10,000 American 
        employees.\62\ In just the last two weeks, North Carolina 
        reported over 264,000 new initial unemployment claims, more 
        than 47 times the amount the area experienced over a two-week 
        period in March 2019.\63\
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    \62\ Includes employees residing in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 
CBSA. Source: American Airlines, Envoy, Piedmont and PSA 2019 W-2 data; 
``American Celebrates Milestone of 700 Daily Departures at CLT Hub'', 
February 19, 2020, http://news.aa.com/news/news-details/20
20/American-Celebrates-Milestone-of-700-Daily-Departures-at-CLT-Hub-
OPS-INF/default.aspx.
    \63\ See U.S. Department of Labor News Release, April 2, 2020 and 
https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/archive.asp

   Tulsa: American employed over 5,000 Tulsa-area residents in 
        2019 and is one of the city's largest employers.\64\ In just 
        the last two weeks, Oklahoma reported over 66,000 new initial 
        unemployment claims, more than 17 times the amount the area 
        experienced over a two-week period in March 2019.\65\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \64\ Includes employees residing in the Tulsa CBSA. Source: 
American Airlines, Envoy, Piedmont and PSA 2019 W-2 data; 2019 Tulsa 
Largest Employers, http://www.growmetrotulsa
.com/sites/default/files/page-attachments/
EDD_%202019%20Largest%20Employers%20List.pdf
    \65\ See U.S. Department of Labor News Release, April 2, 2020 and 
https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/archive.asp

    As detailed in the remainder of this whitepaper, when one accounts 
for all of the quantifiable economic benefits that the employee payroll 
support to American yields back to the U.S. Treasury, various state 
treasuries, and the broader U.S. economy in the form of taxes, reduced 
unemployment insurance payouts, follow-on economic activity, and 
increased capacity that will accelerate the rebound of the U.S. 
economy, American's share of the CARES Act payroll support is ``fully 
funded'' from an economic standpoint. As detailed below, American's 
award of $7.6 billion in payroll support will generate at least $10.6 
billion in primary benefits and $10.6 billion in secondary benefits.
A. The Direct Benefits to the U.S. Treasury, State Treasuries and 
        Induced Spending Throughout the U.S. Economy from Guaranteeing 
        That American's Employees Remain on the Airlines' Payrolls for 
        the Next Six Months Will Range from $4.0-$5.7 Billion
    The direct quantifiable benefits to the U.S. Treasury and state 
treasuries due to higher disposable income for American's employees are 
as follows, with the range of estimates reflecting potential furlough 
assumptions in the absence of the employee grants to American under the 
CARES Act ranging from 60 percent-85 percent:

   Increased Federal Income Tax Revenues of $385-$545 million: 
        Because the $25 billion in employee grants under the CARES Act 
        are contingent on U.S. airlines not furloughing or reducing the 
        wages or salaries of any of their employees until at least 
        September 30, 2020, American's employees will have much higher 
        incomes for the next six months than if they had been 
        furloughed. These higher incomes are subject to standard 
        Federal income tax, which is estimated to be $385-$545 
        million;\66\
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    \66\ While the employee grants under the CARES Act will provide $25 
billion to the U.S. passenger airlines, American is requesting $7.6 
billion for employee payroll support. The following estimates assume 
that in the absence of the employee grants under the CARES Act, between 
60 percent and 85 percent of American's employees would face furloughs, 
consistent with the unprecedented decline in consumer travel demand. 
The 85 percent furlough assumption is equivalent to a three-month total 
shutdown, followed by a three-month period where American is operating 
at 30 percent of normal capacity with 30 percent of its workforce. 
Thus, as a result of the employee payroll support to American, it is 
estimated that $6.1 billion in wages and benefits will be paid that 
otherwise would have been eliminated, under the assumption of 85 
percent avoided furloughs. The estimates of additional tax revenues and 
reduced unemployment claims are based on an analysis of employee level 
2019 W-2 earnings for American, which is used to compute the additional 
taxes or reduced unemployment claims as a result of the employee grants 
to American under the CARES Act as a proportion of the ``at risk'' 
wages for those employees. These proportions are then applied to the 
wage component of the $6.1 billion (under the 85 percent avoided 
furlough assumption) in ``at risk'' wages and benefits to obtain an 
estimated dollar amount of additional taxes (or reduced unemployment 
claims). Officers and Directors (where the information is available) or 
the highest paid 1 percent of employees are excluded from the analysis 
of employee W-2 data. See Figure 13-Figure 15 in the appendix for 
estimates of the additional tax revenues and reduced unemployment 
claims by state under avoided furlough assumptions of 60 percent, 70 
percent, and 85 percent. The estimate of incremental Federal income tax 
revenue includes only tax revenue that would be paid above and beyond 
the Federal income taxes that would be owed for the state unemployment 
insurance claims and Federal pandemic unemployment compensation that 
employees would receive in the absence of the employee payroll support 
to American under the CARES Act. Federal tax liability is estimated 
assuming that taxes are paid at the marginal rates for single tax 
filers and based on each employee's expected income as of April 1, 2020 
and assumes that marginal rates increase during the year as each 
additional dollar of income is earned. Source: Analysis of American 
Airlines, Envoy, Piedmont and PSA W-2 data and Federal income tax 
rates.

   Increased State Income Tax Revenues of $51-$72 million: 
        Similarly, the additional income will be subject to standard 
        state income tax which is estimated to be $51-$72 million \67\;
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    \67\ State income tax estimate includes income taxes in 42 states 
plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands and 
is based on the incremental employee income above and beyond the state 
unemployment insurance claims and Federal pandemic unemployment 
compensation. Income tax is estimated assuming that taxes are paid at 
the marginal rates for single tax filers based on each employee's 
expected income as of April 1, 2020 and assumes that marginal rates 
increase during the year as each additional dollar of income is earned. 
Source: Analysis of American Airlines, Envoy, Piedmont and PSA W-2 data 
and state income tax rates. State income tax rates compiled by the Tax 
Foundation.

   Increased Municipal Tax Revenues of $0.8-$1.2 million: The 
        higher incomes protected by the employee grants to American in 
        the CARES Act will also be subject to municipal income tax in 
        some jurisdictions which is estimated to be $0.8-$1.2 million 
        \68\;
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    \68\ While many municipalities collect income-based taxes, these 
estimates include only the municipal income taxes in New York City, 
Philadelphia, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Detroit, Louisville, 
Baltimore, and Columbus. Analysis of American Airlines, Envoy, Piedmont 
and PSA W-2 data and municipal income tax rates.

   Reduced State Unemployment Insurance Claims of $0.9-$1.3 
        billion: Absent the employee grants under the CARES Act, 
        American would need to furlough the bulk of their employees, 
        who would then be eligible for state unemployment insurance 
        benefits estimated at $0.9-$1.3 billion between April 1, 2020 
        and September 30, 2020 \69\;
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    \69\ Because the CARES Act extends unemployment benefits by up to 
13 weeks, this calculation assumes that all eligible furloughed 
employees would have received unemployment compensation for the period 
between April 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020, if the employee grants 
were not included in the CARES Act. Each employee's estimated 
unemployment benefits are based on actual 2019 W-2 income. Although 
some states provide increased unemployment benefits for unemployed 
works with dependents, these estimates conservatively do not contain 
increased payments for dependents. Source: Analysis of airline W-2 data 
and unemployment benefit criteria; U.S. Department of Labor, Employment 
and Training Administration, ``Significant Provisions of State 
Unemployment Insurance Laws, Effective January 2020.''

   Reduced Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation of $1.0-
        $1.4 billion: Furloughed workers would also be eligible for the 
        Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation contained in the 
        CARES Act of $600 per week through July 31, 2020, at an 
        estimated cost to the Federal government of $1.0-$1.4 billion 
        \70\;
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    \70\ The estimated Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation 
assumes that all furloughed employees eligible for state unemployment 
benefits would receive 16 weeks of Federal Pandemic Unemployment 
Compensation. Source: Analysis of American Airlines, Envoy, Piedmont 
and PSA W-2 data.

   Increased Social Security and Medicare Tax Contributions of 
        $467-$662 million: The incomes protected by the employee grants 
        in the CARES Act would also be subject to the employee and 
        employer paid Social Security and Medicare taxes and protecting 
        these incomes will result in an estimated $467-$662 billion of 
        additional Social Security and Medicare tax contributions \71\; 
        and
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    \71\ Estimated Social Security and Medicare tax contributions 
include both employer and employee paid portions, as applicable, for 
wages estimated to be paid for work between April 1, 2020 and September 
30, 2020 that would not have been paid absent the employee grants in 
the CARES Act. Although the CARES Act has provisions which may allow 
the deferral of the employer portion of Social Security Taxes, these 
taxes will continue to accrue as a liability that will need to be paid 
once the deferral period ends. While some states--including California, 
Massachusetts, Nevada, and New York--have additional payroll tax 
deductions, these additional taxes that would be paid to the states are 
not included in the estimates. Source: Analysis of American Airlines, 
Envoy, Piedmont and PSA W-2 data and Federal payroll tax rates.

   Increased State Unemployment Insurance Tax Contributions of 
        $14-$19 million: Employers, like American are also required to 
        pay state unemployment insurance taxes and the wages maintained 
        by the employee grants in the CARES Act would result in an 
        estimated $14-$19 million in additional contributions.\72\
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    \72\ Estimated contributions based on the average state 
contribution rates applied to the wages maintained as a result of the 
employee grants in the CARES Act. Source: Analysis of American 
Airlines, Envoy, Piedmont and PSA W-2 data and unemployment insurance 
contribution rates; U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training 
Administration, ``Average Employer Contribution Rates by State.''

    In addition to the benefits that flow directly back to Federal and 
state treasuries, each dollar of incremental income received by 
American employees due to the CARES Act (i.e., the difference between 
the wages they will receive through payroll continuation and what they 
would have received if furloughed in the form of state and Federal 
unemployment benefits) generates approximately $0.50 in additional 
economic activity in the U.S. economy, an economic effect known as the 
``induced multiplier''.\73\ This well-understood economic impact is 
attributable to the extra income of airline employees being spent in 
their local communities (and beyond), which then continues to 
recirculate throughout the economy. Based on this multiplier effect, 
the payroll support in the CARES Act results in an additional $1.2-$1.7 
billion of induced economic activity.
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    \73\ The induced multiplier of $0.50 per dollar of airline wages is 
based on the average of the 0.4 multiplier in a study by Oxford 
Economics and the 0.6 multiplier from government spending on real 
private consumption during a recession in a well-cited academic paper 
estimating multipliers during recessions. See Oxford Economics, 
``Economic Benefits from Air Transport in the US,'' 2011, p. 14 and 
``Fiscal Multipliers in Recession and Expansion'', by Alan Auerbach and 
Yuriy Gorodnichnko, Chapter 2 in Fiscal Policy after the Financial 
Crisis, Alberto Alesina and Francesco Giavazzi, Editors, University of 
Chicago Press, 2013, Table 2.1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    When combined, the subset of benefits discussed above--which are a 
direct result of the payroll support American will receive under the 
CARES Act--equal $4.0-$5.7 billion and should be viewed as highly 
conservative estimates, as they exclude other avoided Federal and 
state-level cost such as Medicaid,\74\ corporate income taxes,\75\ as 
well as economic benefits related to the incremental capacity carriers 
will be incented to add due to the CARES Act (as discussed in the 
following sections).
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    \74\ See, e.g., ``Booming Economy Helps Flatten Medicaid Enrollment 
and Limit Costs, States Report,'' Kaiser Health News, October 25, 2018, 
reporting that ``Medicaid spending and enrollment typically rise during 
economic downturns as more people lose jobs and health benefits. When 
the economy is humming, Medicaid enrollment flattens as more people get 
back to work and can get coverage at work or can afford to buy it on 
their own. The national unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in September, 
the lowest since 1969'' and that ``Overall, the Federal government pays 
about 62 percent of Medicaid costs with state's picking up the rest.'' 
Moreover, the costs of additional Medicaid enrollees vary significantly 
by state and health status, ranging from an average of just under 
$3,000 per year in some states to an average of over $7,000 per year in 
others according to Medicaid program estimates. See https://
www.medicaid.gov/state-overviews/ scorecard/how-much-states-spend-per-
medicaid-enrollee/index.html.
    \75\ To the extent it is determined that the employee grants under 
the CARES Act are taxable income, American will face an increased 
Federal and state corporate tax liability (now or in the future 
depending on its net operating loss carryforwards).
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B. The CARES Act Also Ensures That U.S. Passenger Airlines, including 
        American, Will Be Prepared to Quickly Restore Flights When 
        Demand Returns, Thereby Stimulating Even More Economic Benefits
    If the U.S. economy is to rebound quickly from the economic 
slowdown the COVID-19 pandemic has caused,\76\ it is critical that U.S. 
airlines, including American, be in position to quickly ramp up service 
once the pandemic shows signs of ending. This is because airlines are 
the engine for much of the Nation's economic activity. Indeed, 
approximately one third of all U.S. airline travel is for the purposes 
of conducting business,\77\ and to repair the economic damage that has 
been caused by the pandemic, it is essential that both business and 
leisure travelers are able to resume their travel plans in order to 
jump start the U.S. (and global) economy. Moreover, while many other 
travel-related industries have also suffered because of the pandemic 
(e.g., hotels, cruise, casinos and gaming, theme parks), each of these 
industries relies critically on airlines to bring their customers to 
them. For example, the overwhelming majority of cruise passengers \78\ 
and visitors to Las Vegas or Orlando arrive by air.\79\ Likewise, many 
states whose economies are dependent on tourism rely on plentiful and 
affordable air service to bring visitors to their states.\80\ Simply 
put, in order for the many other industries, cities, and states that 
rely on tourism and business travel to get back on their feet once 
demand returns, American and other U.S. airlines will need to be poised 
to quickly add capacity to meet that demand.
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    \76\ See ``Jerome Powell: `We may well be in a recession' '', 
Politico, March 26, 2020.
    \77\ Source: A4A, Status of Air Travel in the USA, April 13, 2016.
    \78\ American is--far and away--the largest carrier serving the 
Miami/Fort Lauderdale area, home to two the country's largest cruise 
ports (Port Miami and Port Everglades). In 2019, for example, American 
operated nearly half of all scheduled U.S. passenger carrier flights to 
the Miami/Fort-Lauderdale area. Source: OAG.
    \79\ According to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, in 
2019, there were 42.5 million visitors to the city in 2019, and over 51 
million enplanements/deplanements at Las Vegas McCarran International 
Airport, implying that more than half of Las Vegas visitors arrive by 
air. See https://assets.simpleviewcms.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1/
clients/lasvegas/Historical_1970_to_2019_ada0164b-b599-4fac-8f7a-
eb26bfe17187.pdf. Likewise, according to Orlando's visitor's bureau, 
the city welcomed 75 million visitors in 2018, compared to 47.7 million 
arrivals by air. See ``Orlando Announces Record 75 Million Visitors'', 
May 8, 2019 (https://www.visitorlando.com/en/corporate-blog/post/
orlando-announces-record-75-million-visitors).
    \80\ For example, in 2018, Hawaii welcomed 9.9 million visitors, 
9.8 million of which arrived by air, while nearly over 51 million of 
Florida's 125 million visitors in 2018 arrived by air. See https://
www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/media/4086/2018-annual-report-final-
repost-1-7-20
.pdf and https://www.visitflorida.org/resources/research/research-faq/.
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    However, unlike many other industries that can recall furloughed 
employees and quickly re-open for business once demand returns, it is 
far more difficult for passenger airlines to quickly restore operations 
by recalling furloughed employees. One reason, for example, is that per 
FAA requirements pilots cannot simply return from furlough and resume 
flying on short notice. Instead, because furloughed pilots lose their 
``currency'' after 90 days of inactivity, they are required to be 
retrained before they can be in command of a passenger aircraft.\81\ 
Moreover, because pilots' collective bargaining agreements dictate that 
furloughs must occur in reverse seniority order (i.e., with the most 
recently hired pilots being furloughed first), furloughing typically 
triggers a set of time-consuming pilot training events as pilots get 
displaced from their original aircraft type to smaller ones, and the 
process of ``bumping'' and re-training occurs again once furloughed 
pilots have been recalled. Furthermore, the process of bumping that 
occurs when airlines furlough (and subsequently recall) pilots 
generates additional training needs because many of the pilots that are 
not furloughed are ``downgraded'' from captain to first officer (which 
requires a training event), and when furloughed pilots are recalled and 
start to return, these downgraded first officers are eventually 
upgraded back to captain, which requires yet another training event. 
This cycle of furlough- and recall-induced training significantly 
reduces the speed at which carriers can restore capacity following 
furloughs. By the same token, depending on the length of the furlough, 
flight attendants and other employee groups would also need to be 
retrained, and all employees would need to be re-badged to have access 
to restricted areas of airports. In addition to the time-consuming 
process of recalling and retraining employees, maintenance inspections 
and recertifications required to bring aircraft out of long-term 
storage also uniquely delay the process of quickly restoring operations 
for airlines relative to other industries.
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    \81\ See 14 CFR Sec. 61.57.(a)(1), requiring that ``no person may 
act as a pilot in command of an aircraft carrying passengers or of an 
aircraft certificated for more than one pilot flight crewmember unless 
that person has made at least three takeoffs and three landings within 
the preceding 90 day'' and that ``[t]he required takeoffs and landings 
were performed in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if 
a type rating is required)'' According to FAA regulations, take-off and 
landings ``may be accomplished in a full flight simulator or flight 
training device that is (i) Approved by the Administrator for landings; 
and (ii) Used in accordance with an approved course conducted by a 
training center certificated under part 142 of this chapter.''
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    By keeping American's employees on the payroll (rather than 
furloughing between 60 and 85 percent of its employees for at least the 
next six months), the CARES Act creates the incentive and capability 
for American to add flights back faster than they otherwise would, 
because the labor cost component of those flights (which typically 
accounts for a third or more of the operating cost of a flight) are no 
longer marginal costs. Put differently, by effectively reimbursing 
American for the labor costs associated with operating flights for the 
next six months, the CARES Act lowers the hurdle rate for restoring a 
flight, incenting American to restore more flights than it otherwise 
would over this period. By positioning American to restore capacity far 
faster than it otherwise would, the CARES Act will help American fuel a 
faster recovery for the U.S. economy in at least three ways, each of 
which creates additional economic benefits beyond the $4.0-$5.7 billion 
already identified. Specifically, the additional CARES-Act induced 
capacity will result in (1) American's supply chain (i.e., airports, 
airline catering companies, jet fuel providers, etc.) ramping up more 
quickly, (2) greater numbers of domestic passengers resuming their 
travel plans on American, as increased capacity will result in more 
convenient (and lower priced) air travel options, and (3) American 
restoring more long-haul international routes on which it offers the 
only non-stop service, stimulating inbound visitor travel to the United 
States.\82\ As discussed below, when combined, these three quantifiable 
benefits alone can be expected to generate approximately $920 million 
of additional U.S. economic activity between July 1 and September 30, 
2020.
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    \82\ Moreover, these estimates are conservative because they do not 
attempt to calculate the value of the additional cargo that the 
passenger airlines, including American, will be able to transport as a 
result of the CARES-Act induced capacity, which will further enable the 
restoration of global and U.S. supply chains to the benefit of business 
throughout the U.S. economy.
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1. Incremental American Capacity Restoration Induced by the CARES' Act 
        Will 
        Result in Greater Demand for Products and Services in 
        American's Supply Chain, Resulting in Additional Economic 
        Activity
    Airlines, including American have enormous supply chains, including 
airports and airport services, jet fuel, catering, and third-party 
ground handling services, and this supply chain supports hundreds of 
thousands of jobs in the United States and generates substantial 
economic activity throughout the economy. Because the CARES Act creates 
the strong incentive and capability for carriers, including American, 
to restore capacity faster than they otherwise would, this incremental 
capacity (i.e., the amount of capacity above and beyond what carriers 
would have deployed absent the $25 billion in employee grants) will 
generate additional demand by U.S. airlines within their supply chain. 
And because the incremental demand for these services will support 
firms in those industries in recalling furloughed employees, this will 
in turn create additional benefits to the Federal government, states, 
and the broader economy by reducing unemployment costs and inducing 
further spending throughout the economy.
    Figure 6 below summarizes the additional benefits to the U.S. 
economy from increased economic activity within American's supply chain 
under a range of assumptions as to how much incremental capacity 
American would be incented to add because of the CARES Act. The 
salaries, wages and benefits at American over the next six months 
(i.e., from April 1-September 30) are estimated to be approximately 
$7.3 billion, or $1.2 billion per month.\83\ Because the CARES Act will 
incent and enable American to increase capacity faster than it 
otherwise would, Figure 6 presents a range of incremental capacity 
additions between July 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020. As noted above, 
this additional capacity will increase the spending throughout 
American's supply chain, and this increase is captured by the indirect 
multiplier. The indirect multiplier captures the downstream economic 
activity that is generated when firms in an upstream industry (e.g., 
airlines) purchase the goods and services they need to perform their 
operations (e.g., operate flights) and is expressed as a ratio of the 
upstream firms' direct spending.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \83\ See footnote 66 above.
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    Based on a previous study of the economic impact of the U.S. 
airline industry by Oxford Economics, we assume an indirect multiplier 
of 1.09.\84\ Thus, by way of example, if the CARES Act incents and 
enables American to restore capacity (relative to pre-pandemic planned 
levels) by an additional 10 percentage points between July 1 and 
September 30,\85\ through the indirect multiplier effect, this increase 
of flying translates into a $395 million increase in economy activity 
through American's supply chain.\86\ Alternatively, if the CARES Act 
incents American to restore capacity by an additional 15 percentage 
points between July 1 and September 30, the supply chain impacts grow 
to $593 million over this period.
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    \84\ Oxford Economics, ``Economic Benefits from Air Transport in 
the US,'' 2011, p. 14.
    \85\ The assumptions that the CARES Act will incent and enable 
American to restore 10 percent incremental capacity and that this 
incremental capacity begins on July 1, 2020, are highly conservative 
because as a condition of the CARES Act payroll protections, airlines 
can be mandated by the Department of Transportation to maintain service 
to all U.S. cities served as of March 1, 2020, as discussed on page 3 
above.
    \86\ The direct spending by American on salaries and benefits 
needed to produce 10 percent of their pre-pandemic capacity for three 
months is approximately $363 million. When multiplied by the indirect 
multiplier of 1.09, this yields supply chain economic benefits of $395 
million, much of which will flow to hard hit sectors such as those that 
supply jet fuel and airline catering services.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

2. Incremental American Capacity Restoration Induced by the CARES' Act 
        Will Also Incent More Domestic Travel, Resulting in Additional 
        Economic Activity
    Because the CARES Act creates the incentive and capability for 
airlines, including American, to restore flights back faster than they 
otherwise would, the availability of more domestic capacity earlier 
will accelerate the recovery of the U.S. economy by stimulating 
passengers (either because of lower prices or better schedule options) 
who otherwise would not have flown.\87\ These incremental passengers 
will, in turn, spend additional money on such items as hotels, car 
rentals, and restaurants. Based on existing studies of the spending 
patterns of U.S. domestic travelers, each passenger spends, on average, 
$420 per trip.\88\ To be conservative, we assume that even with the 
highly discounted pricing that carriers are likely to use to encourage 
passengers to resume flying, the incremental capacity (i.e., that which 
is enabled because of the CARES Act) will still be relatively empty, 
with only 50 percent of the incremental seats filled. By way of 
example, if the CARES Act incents American to restore 10 percentage 
points more of pre-pandemic domestic capacity than it otherwise would 
have, it would result in approximately 62,897 more domestic seats per 
day, or an increase of 5.8 million seats between July 1 and September 
30.\89\ Even at a 50 percent load factor, these incremental 5.8 million 
seats result in an increase of 2.9 million passengers, which translates 
into approximately 1.0 million incremental round-trip domestic 
travelers.\90\ Based on average spending of $420 per round-trip 
passenger, this incremental 10 percentage points of restored capacity 
will inject an additional $435 million into the U.S. economy over the 
period. Alternatively, if the CARES Act incents American to restore an 
additional 15 percentage points of domestic capacity between July 1 and 
September 30, the additional passenger spending grows to $653 million 
over this period.
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    \87\ Initially, some passengers may also be stimulated to travel by 
air if the incremental capacity results in less crowded flights 
allowing passengers to--for example--avoid having another passenger sit 
directly beside them.
    \88\ A trip is defined as a domestic traveler on a trip away from 
home overnight in paid accommodations, or on a day or overnight trip to 
places 50 miles or more, one-way, away from home. Source: U.S. Travel 
Association, ``U.S. Travel and Tourism Overview (2019),'' March 2020.
    \89\ This figure is based on pre-pandemic full capacity over this 
period of 58 million seats on American, including flights marketed by 
American but operated by regional carriers.
    \90\ Conversion of onboard passengers to round-trip passengers 
assumes 28 percent of these passengers make a connection, based on 
analysis of U.S. DOT DB1B data.
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3. The Restoration of International Routes served by American Will 
        Stimulate 
        Additional Inbound Visitors--and Their Associated Economic 
        Impact--for the U.S. Economy
    Because the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in numerous foreign 
travel restrictions, international flights on U.S. carriers have been 
particularly hard hit. Because the CARES Act will enable U.S. carriers, 
including American, to more quickly restore service on some 
international routes where, absent the payroll support, service 
restoration would have been further delayed, the U.S. economy will 
benefit from additional inbound visitors, accelerating the pace of 
recovery for hotels, restaurants, and retail establishments that rely 
on visitor spending. For example, before the COVID-19 pandemic, 
American offered regular non-stop service on 26 long haul international 
routes not served by any foreign carriers,\91\ and it is well 
understood that the availability of non-stop service on long-haul 
international routes stimulates traffic between the endpoints because 
of reduced travel times.\92\ Even assuming that the incrementally 
restored flights because of the CARES Act are only half full at start-
up, and only half of these passengers would not have traveled without 
the availability of non-stop service (consistent with economic studies 
on non-stop traffic stimulation),\93\ each daily long-haul 
international route that American is able to restore will bring 688 
additional visitors to the U.S. per month.\94\ And because each 
overseas visitor generates approximately $8,600 of spending in the 
United States,\95\ the restoration of a single daily frequency on one 
of these routes will generate $5.9 million in economic activity per 
month at American's international gateway cities such as Charlotte, 
Dallas, Philadelphia, Miami, and Los Angeles or $17.8 million if the 
reinstatement of these routes is accelerated by three months (i.e., 
effective July 1 rather than September 1). As shown in Figure 8 below, 
if 5 routes are reinstated three months earlier than they otherwise 
would have been, inbound visitors will generate $88.9 million in 
economic activity, and if 15 routes are reinstated three months earlier 
than they otherwise would have been, inbound visitors will generate 
$266.8 million in economic activity. Moreover, in addition to the 
direct tourism spending by the new visitors on the reinstated non-stop 
service, the U.S. economy will also benefit from additional economic 
activity throughout the economy via indirect and induced ``multiplier 
effects.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \91\ International city-pairs over 2,500 miles, served by American, 
where U.S. carriers offered at least 200 roundtrips in 2019 and no 
foreign carrier served the city-pair. Source: OAG 2019.
    \92\ For example, research has shown that when an international 
route gains non-stop air services, traffic between the endpoint cities 
is stimulated by a factor of as much as 9.1 for small routes (1,000 
passengers per year) and by a factor of 1.3 for routes with 50,000 
annual passengers. See Market stimulation of new airline routes, SEO 
Amsterdam Economics, January 2016.
    \93\ Indeed, because of concerns about coronavirus, some passengers 
may be reluctant to travel on connecting flights and thus would elect 
not to travel absent the reintroduction of non-stop service.
    \94\ The average flight operated by American on these city-pairs 
had 252 seats in 2019 and in the most recent year of data, 
approximately 36 percent of passengers on these flights had foreign a 
point-of-origin. Source: OAG 2019, U.S. DOT DB1B FYE 2019-Q3.
    \95\ Visitor spending, excluding education and airfare, is 
calculated for passengers arriving from Europe as an approximation of 
long-haul international passenger tourism spending. Source: National 
Travel and Tourism Office, Market Profile of Overseas Visitors, Europe 
(2018), https://travel.trade.gov/outreachpages/
inbound.general_information.inbound_overview.asp.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

C. The CARES Act Also Results in Longer Term Benefits from American's 
        Incremental Capacity, Beyond September 30, 2020
    The benefits to the U.S. economy of the CARES Act will not end on 
September 30, 2020. To the contrary, because the CARES Act will 
position U.S. passenger airlines, including American, to emerge from 
the COVID-19 pandemic with their workforces both intact and highly 
motivated to lead the economic recovery, there is every reason to 
believe that carriers will be both incented and able to continue 
supplying incrementally more capacity than they otherwise would as the 
economy's rebound accelerates.\96\ Indeed, during the first year beyond 
September 30, 2020, it is reasonable to assume that a stronger and more 
resilient American can be expected to continue supplying 10 percentage 
points more incremental capacity (relative to pre-pandemic levels) than 
it would have supplied absent the CARES Act (and the concomitant 
negative impact on American employees).\97\ In the second full year 
after September 30, 2020 (i.e., October 1, 2021-September 30, 2022), we 
make the conservative assumption that the incremental American capacity 
enabled by the enduring effects of the CARES Act's payroll support 
falls to only five percentage points (relative to pre-pandemic 
capacity). Under these incremental capacity assumptions, the CARES Act 
will continue to pay large dividends to the U.S. economy well beyond 
September 30 of this year in the form of more domestic tourism, more 
economic activity in airlines' supply chain, and additional foreign 
visitor spending valued at approximately $3.6 billion in year 1 (i.e., 
October 1, 2020-September 30, 2021) and $2.0 billion in year 2 (i.e., 
October 1, 2021-September 30, 2022).\98\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \96\ See footnote 19 above.
    \97\ By way of example, if American would have reduced its capacity 
during the first year beyond September 30, 2020,to 50 percent of its 
pre-pandemic capacity absent the CARES Act, it is reasonable to assume 
that the trailing benefits of the CARES Act would enable American to 
supply 60 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity.
    \98\ These estimates are conservative because they do not account 
for the additional employee income and payroll tax revenue and reduced 
unemployment claims that will result from the larger workforce required 
to operate the longer-term incremental capacity enabled by the CARES 
Act.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

The Primary Quantifiable Benefits from the CARES Act Payroll Support to 
        American Range From $10.6-$12.3 Billion
    In sum, the primary quantifiable benefits resulting from the CARES 
Act payroll support to American's employees, namely (1) the direct 
quantifiable benefits to the U.S. Treasury and state treasuries (in the 
form of additional taxes and reduced unemployment claims), (2) the 
additional consumer spending in the U.S. economy due to higher 
disposable income for American's employee, and (3) the direct benefits 
to the U.S. economy arising from the incremental capacity offered by 
American that the CARES Act enables, both during the period covered by 
the payroll support and beyond, range from $10.6 billion under the 
assumption that furloughs of 60 percent are avoided to $12.3 billion 
under the assumption that furloughs of 85 percent are avoided. These 
primary quantifiable benefits are summarized below in Figure 10 and 
Figure 11, respectively.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

The CARES Act Will Also Generate Substantial Secondary GDP Spillover 
        Effects Throughout the U.S. Economy
    Even though the primary economic impacts that flow from the CARES 
Act enumerated above are substantial, they still dramatically 
understate the true and full economic benefit of the Act's assistance 
to American employees on the U.S. economy. This is because the primary 
economic impacts quantified above do not capture the secondary 
spillover benefits that a larger and more robust U.S. airline industry 
provides through facilitating more face-to-face business meetings--that 
will no doubt lead to an accelerated economic recovery--or the broader 
societal benefits that come from friends and families being able to 
more easily resume their normal lives by attending weddings, reunions, 
and other events, in all of which traveling by air plays a vital role. 
Based on FAA's estimate that civil aviation in the U.S. drives roughly 
5 percent of U.S. GDP, and taking into account that American provides 
for approximately 23 percent of the U.S. industry's capacity (as 
measured by ASMs), even under highly conservative assumptions regarding 
how American's incremental CARES Act-enabled capacity would contribute 
to GDP by facilitating more business travel--and the commerce, 
innovation, and employment that flows from it--these secondary 
spillover effects can be expected to have an incremental GDP effect of 
about 0.02 percent, which translates into approximately $10.6 billion 
during the two years following the end of the payroll support 
period.\99\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \99\ The secondary GDP spillover effect for American is based on 
its pro-rata share (based on ASMs) of the U.S. airline industry's 
impact calculated in the Compass Lexecon Airline Industry CARES Study, 
which conservatively estimated an average GDP impact of 0.1 percent for 
the entire industry over the two years following the end of the 
employee payroll support period. These estimates of secondary spillover 
effects assume that the CARES Act enables American to restore 10 
percentage points more of their pre-pandemic capacity than they 
otherwise would for the one-year period Oct. 2020 to Sept. 2021 and an 
incremental 5 percentage points for the one-year period Oct. 2021 to 
Sept. 2022. The impact of civil aviation on GDP excludes aircraft 
manufacturing, air couriers, and general aviation, and is based on the 
fourth quarter 2019 U.S. GDP of $21.7 trillion. The GDP impact further 
assumes that the incremental capacity enabled by the CARES Act 
contributes to GDP at 50 percent its average rate (to account for lower 
fares and load factors throughout the recovery) and excludes $5.6 
billion of post-grant period impact that has already been accounted for 
in primary economic impacts summarized in Figure 1. Sources: The 
Economic Impact of Civil Aviation in the U.S. Economy, U.S. Federal 
Aviation Administration, January 2020; U.S. BEA press release, ``Gross 
Domestic Product, Fourth Quarter and Year 2019 (Third Estimate); 
Corporate Profits, Fourth Quarter and Year 2019,'' March 26, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusions
    Over the past three weeks, the U.S. passenger airline industry has 
been sent into a dramatic and unprecedented freefall due to the COVID-
19 pandemic that has paralyzed every major economy in the world. In 
response to the evaporation of travel demand that came as a direct 
result of public officials' pleas for Americans to stay at home, 
Congress passed and the President signed the CARES Act into law, 
which--among many other things--provided payroll support to U.S. 
passenger airlines of $25 billion to keep their employees on their 
payrolls until the end of September. Absent this payroll support, 
American, would have had no choice but to furlough between 60 percent 
and 85 percent of its employees, and the resulting service cuts would 
have left many small, remote U.S. communities without any scheduled 
airline service. Not only would this have crippled American's ability 
to help the U.S. economy rebound from the seismic economic shock 
created by the coronavirus, it would have imposed substantial economic 
burdens on the U.S. Treasury and state treasuries by further increasing 
the already historic number of unemployment claims and reducing Federal 
and state tax revenues. Moreover, faced with dramatically reduced 
incomes, up to one hundred thousand of American's potentially 
furloughed airline employees would have been forced to curtail their 
spending, resulting in negative economic spillover effects in countless 
communities throughout the entire country, and particularly in 
American's hub cities where the carrier is often one of the largest 
employers. All told, these direct impacts of the CARES Act's payroll 
support to American will provide approximately $4.0-$5.7 billion in 
quantifiable benefits to U.S. Treasury, state treasuries, or increased 
spending flowing directly from the payment of American's employees' 
wages over just the next six months.\100\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \100\ As noted earlier, this $4.0-$5.7 billion figure is highly 
conservative because it excludes the potential cost savings to the 
Federal and state governments related to increased use of Medicaid by 
furloughed American Airlines employees and excludes potential corporate 
tax liability.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In addition, by positioning American to be able to restore capacity 
far faster than it otherwise would, the CARES Act will help American 
fuel a faster recovery for the U.S. economy by lowering the hurdle rate 
for restoring its flights, resulting in $920 million in economic 
benefits during the six-month period of the payroll support alone and 
an additional $3.6 billion and $2.0 billion in the first and second 
years following the grants, respectively. Including the benefits from 
the capacity that the CARES Act incents and enables American to restore 
earlier than it otherwise would brings the total primary economic 
benefits to the U.S. economy to between $10.6 and $12.3 billion--far in 
excess of American's award of $7.6 billion in payroll support--plus an 
additional $10.6 billion in secondary GDP spillover effects during the 
two years following the end of the grant period.
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                                 ______
                                 
                           Author Biographies
    Eric Amel is a Vice President with Compass Lexecon (and previously 
Sr. Managing Economist at LECG). He has worked on numerous aviation 
cases including conducting extensive analysis for regulatory clearance 
in airline mergers, alliance antitrust immunity filings, analysis for 
independent expert reports in numerous labor disputes for U.S. 
airlines, analysis of government slot proposals, and analysis for 
expert reports in numerous airline bankruptcies. Prior to his current 
position, Dr. Amel was the Chief Economist at Delta Air Lines and prior 
to that he was the Chief Economist at Continental Airlines. He also 
held a position at Federal Express. Dr. Amel was also an Assistant 
Professor of Finance at Arizona State University College of Business 
and has also been a Lecturer in Business Economics (MBA) at Boston 
University School of Management. Dr. Amel received his Ph.D. in 
Economics from Washington University where he specialized in Finance, 
Industrial Organization, and Public Finance. He also holds an M.A. in 
Economics from Washington University and a B.A. in Economics and 
Government from Oberlin College.
    Darin Lee is an Executive Vice President at Compass Lexecon and has 
published numerous articles on various aspects of airline economics in 
journals such as The Journal of Law & Economics, the Journal of Labor 
Economics, Economics of Transportation and the Journal of Competition 
Law & Economics. Dr. Lee is also the editor of volumes I and II of the 
Advances in Airline Economics book series published by Elsevier. Dr. 
Lee has over 20 years of experience in the airline industry analyzing 
issues such as alleged anti-competitive behavior, bankruptcy 
reorganization, codesharing, joint ventures and antitrust immunity, 
labor disputes and business interruption. Dr. Lee has frequently 
testified as an expert on the airline industry in U.S. Federal Court 
and before numerous arbitration panels, and has also presented 
empirical analyses of airline competition issues before the U.S. 
Departments of Justice, State, and Transportation, as well as and 
numerous foreign competition bureaus. Dr. Lee holds a Ph.D. in 
Economics from Brown University, an M.A. in Economics from Queen's 
University and a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Victoria.
    Ethan Singer is a Senior Vice President at Compass Lexecon. He has 
over ten years of consulting experience in the airline industry as a 
consultant to the aviation practice at Compass Lexecon, and previously, 
as a Senior Associate at LECG. Dr. Singer holds a Ph.D. in Economics 
from the University of Minnesota, an M.A. in Economics from the 
University of Minnesota and a B.A. in Economics with Distinction from 
Carleton College. Dr. Singer specializes in the analysis of airline 
economics and has worked extensively on a broad range of airline 
engagements including mergers, joint ventures and antitrust immunity, 
labor arbitrations, bankruptcy restructuring and financial damages. His 
research focuses on airline competition and the cost structure of 
international trade and he has published articles on airline economics 
in Economics of Transportation, the Journal of Competition Law & 
Economics, Review of Industrial Organization, and the Journal of 
Economic and Management & Strategy.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to 
                           Dr. Mike Tretheway
    U.S. Airline Industry Relief and International Comparisons. In many 
ways, the United States was unique in its approach to ensuring the 
stability of our aviation sector and our economy with the Payroll 
Support Program. First, Congress acted very quickly when the pandemic 
hit, passing the CARES Act on March 27, 2020. Second, we set 
transparent and firm rules for Federal relief, like limitations on 
executive compensation and minimum service obligations for airlines. 
Third, we did not choose ``winners'' or ``losers'' among airlines.
    The PSP program was open to all eligible applicants. Relief was not 
targeted to only airline and airport workers, but also sustained jobs 
in the supply chain, like at repair stations, airline contractors, and 
service providers.

    Question 1. What are the successful features of the U.S. response 
that distinguish it from other models used by foreign countries? What 
other steps should the United States take to strengthen its aviation 
sector?
    Answer. Other nations largely focused on supporting wages and/or a 
specific carrier, sometimes referred to as a `champion' carrier.
    The U.S. approach focused on the key policy objectives of a) 
maintaining a basic level of air transport connectivity, b) maintaining 
a workforce that is highly trained and focused on safety and security 
and c) supporting the entire air transport supply chain and not merely 
air carriers.
    The focus on maintaining connectivity should be the fundamental 
objective in any crisis. Air transport supports not only the continuity 
and effectiveness of many economic sectors, it also provides social, 
medical, educational, social services delivery and disaster response 
connectivity. In Canada, one example among many others, while wage 
support was provided, many communities, including at least one 
provincial capital, lost all scheduled commercial air service. (I note 
that Canada did provide support linked to maintaining connectivity in 
the arctic, but not elsewhere.) Wage supports were useful, but they 
were not focused on the fundamental objective of maintaining 
connectivity during the pandemic. Commercial aviation was treated as 
any other sector in providing wage supports, but these were not linked 
to a requirement of maintaining connectivity.
    Regarding maintain the workforce, I commented on this in my written 
brief. Not only does it take months and years (especially pilots and 
mechanics) to train aviation workers, but it has taken decades to 
develop and reinforce a culture of safety and security, which could be 
weakened with high rates of turnover during the pandemic crisis.
    Providing support for a champion carrier, and not all carriers, as 
was done in many nations (e.g., Germany, Singapore), undermines 
competition and market forces. The U.S. approach was fundamentally 
oriented to supporting the market, not selected champion carriers. As 
recovery occurs, the U.S. is in a better position to enjoy the 
considerable benefits of market competition. The U.S. approach lets the 
market be the adjudicator of success and survival, not the judgement of 
government.
    The U.S. also recognized that airlines are dependent on an entire 
supply chain and the entire chain needed to continue. This included 
airports, ground and catering services, aircraft maintenance services 
and manufacturing. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and 
the U.S. policy provided support for the entire chain.
    Regarding the issue of what other steps should the United States 
take to strengthen its aviation sector, I note that this is a very 
broad topic, and I will confine my comments to a few issues related to 
the pandemic's impact on aviation.

   First, I strongly urge action, either enforcement or new 
        policy, on the issue raised in the oral hearing regarding 
        passenger violence and non-conformity with safety and health 
        regulations onboard flights and in the airport. At the very 
        least, such behavior, if unconstrained, should be understood 
        will affect retention of skill employees with a safety and 
        security values, in addition to traveler attitudes toward 
        flying.

   Second, with the upcoming 30th anniversary of the U.S. open 
        skies initiative, U.S. policy should `stay the course' on 
        relying on market determination of international airline routes 
        and fares, a policy that originated in the U.S. and which 
        provided significant benefits for billions of air passengers 
        (and cargo shippers) not only on flights to and from the U.S. 
        but elsewhere in the world. The U.S. was and still is the 
        global leader on many aspects of air policy. In the post-
        pandemic period, other nations may seek to pursue protectionist 
        policies that favor the champion carriers they chose during the 
        pandemic. It would be a mistake for the U.S. to accommodate 
        this.

   Third, the issue was raised in the hearing of an expanded 
        list of passenger rights. Certainly, regulations clarifying 
        passenger rights helps balance the playing field. But I caution 
        against any policy that seeks to establish cost-based prices or 
        rates for specific auxiliary services provided by airlines. 
        This would constitute a step into re-regulation of airline 
        industry.

   Fourth, policy should support addressing long-term shortages 
        of the skilled aviation workforce, especially regarding pilots 
        and mechanics. The pilot and mechanic shortage predated the 
        pandemic, and the policies put in place by the U.S. Congress in 
        2020 and 2021 were critical in ensuring that the shortage did 
        not become worse, as it has in a number of other countries, but 
        it does remain a long-term issue.

   Fifth, I urge a study of what happened in the industry 
        during the pandemic to draw out lessons learned and best 
        practices. Congress has mandated reviews of transportation 
        policy and issues in the past, such as those done the 
        Transportation Research Board, and these have guided subsequent 
        policy development. My own observation is that some lessons 
        learned in previous events, such as SARS in 2003, had been 
        forgotten and were not utilized in the early days of the COVID-
        19 pandemic. There are lessons to be learned and remembered for 
        future events, both from the aviation and medical communities.

    Question 2. When do you forecast a return to pre-pandemic levels of 
air travel demand in the United States and globally?
    Answer. There are two issues: When will air travel demand return to 
pre-pandemic levels and when will it return to long term trends. In 
answering this question, it is important to distinguish domestic from 
international air travel, as the latter is dependent upon policies of 
other nations and complex border health regulations.
    While my company, InterVISTAS Consulting Inc., has prepared 
forecasts of air travel demand recovery, so too have others including 
the Federal Aviation Administration, the International Civil Aviation 
Organization, the International Air Transport Association, and Airports 
Council International. These are currently pointing to the following:

   There is increasing optimism for traffic recovery. For 
        example, FAA's most recent forecast (November 2021) is for a 
        more rapid recovery than it made a year earlier, in November 
        2020, the latter being a point in time prior to the U.S. 
        vaccination program.

   The U.S. will have a more rapid recovery than most other 
        nations/regions.

   Domestic U.S. travel recovery could reach pre-pandemic 
        levels in late 2022 or early 2023. Recovery will be led by 
        visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and tourism travel, with 
        business travel lagging. The latter may not recover to 2019 
        levels until later in the 2020s. Business travel, while hard to 
        precisely define and measure, has many segments. Some, such as 
        conferences/exhibition and knowledge exchange events will 
        recover fully and sooner. Other segments such as intra-
        corporate travel, will be permanently reduced, although to a 
        large extent the pandemic merely accelerated a trend that was 
        already in progress on the use of communications technologies.

   International air travel is not expected to recover to pre-
        pandemic levels until 2024 or later. This is a consequence of 
        continuing and differing policies of nations for international 
        border crossing. The requirement and inconvenience of testing, 
        for example, raises the cash and time inconvenience costs of 
        air travel.

   All of the forecasts also expect air travel demand to 
        eventually return to previous long-term trends in the late 
        2020s or early 2030s. Here the forecasts differ in terms of 
        whether other factors may have reduced long term travel demand, 
        in particular regarding government policy and social attitudes 
        regarding aviation's impact on climate change. Boeing, for 
        example, which has an excellent record regarding long term 
        aviation forecasts, has somewhat reduced its global long term 
        traffic demand growth rate to 4 percent, down from 5 percent in 
        some of their earlier forecasts.

   While forecasts became more optimistic as 2021 ended, all 
        the forecasters indicate that there is still significant 
        downward risk, primarily regarding potential evolution of the 
        COVID-19 virus, with some concerns (less in the U.S. than a 
        number of other nations) regarding downsized fleets and 
        shortages of key aviation professionals, notably pilots and 
        mechanics.

    While Question 2 asks about air transport demand, markets also have 
a supply side. The policy and financial response of the U.S. Congress 
to the pandemic is observed to have retained the fleet capacity of the 
U.S. commercial airlines. This is not the case for many other nations 
who policies did not focus on maintaining air transport connectivity. 
There have been U.S. carrier fleet changes, of course. In particular 
(with the encouragement of Congress) the replacement of many older, 
high fuel consumption and carbon impact aircraft with newer more 
efficient aircraft. But the overall fleet capacity has been maintained 
and can accommodate demand recovery. This is not the case in many other 
nations, where fleets are now smaller. The U.S. focus on continuity of 
connectivity helped to retain the supply capacity needed to support 
demand recovery. Again, this underscores the effectiveness of the 
response of the U.S. Congress to the pandemic.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to 
                              Doug Parker
    Payroll Support Program Impact. Congress created the Payroll 
Support Program to protect the airline industry's workforce, support 
the continuity of safe and essential travel, and ensure the industry's 
ability to remain viable to meet future consumer travel demand. The 
Department of the Treasury disbursed a total of $54 billion to 
passenger airlines, across three rounds of PSP, to provide critical 
relief during the pandemic.
    We know that PSP made a difference in December 2020, when Congress 
extended the program, because airline recipients had to recall 
thousands of employees who were furloughed after September 30, 2020 
when the first round of PSP ended.
    According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), between 
October 2020 and February 2021, major airlines hired or brought back 
28,179 workers. These workers came back just in time for the air travel 
rebound, which took off in March 2021. As of September 2021, airlines 
were approximately 8.8 percent below their pre-pandemic employment 
levels according to BTS data. I am interested in learning from your 
airline on how the Payroll Support Program impacted your workforce and 
operations. Mr. Parker, American received $12.6 billion in PSP funds.

    Question 1. If not for PSP funding, what do you think the status of 
your workforce would look like today? Would your airline have been able 
to survive the pandemic, absent PSP funding?
    Answer. It's not an exaggeration to say the Payroll Support Program 
saved the airline industry.
    That's because the devastation created by the COVID-19 pandemic was 
profound and universal. In fact, nothing in history has ever come 
remotely close to negatively impacting demand for air travel like 
COVID-19. For American, in the final week of March 2020, our passenger 
revenues were 96 percent lower than the same period in 2019 and our 
load factor was 14 percent compared to 85 percent in the same week of 
March 2019, even though we had reduced our capacity by nearly two-
thirds.
    In response to the unprecedented evaporation of demand, we took 
aggressive self-help measures like grounding aircraft, canceling flying 
and implementing a major cost-reduction program. While these actions 
were necessary, they were not sustainable.
    Were it not for PSP, most airlines would have survived by shutting 
down flying in April 2020, furloughing almost all our team members, and 
waiting for demand to return to levels strong enough to justify 
restoring flying. As it turns out, that would have been sometime in 
2021.
    Fortunately, PSP kept us flying by paying us to pay our team. In 
exchange, we agreed not to involuntarily separate anyone or reduce pay 
rates, and we agreed to maintain air service to the communities we 
served prior to the pandemic.
    Because of the support U.S. airlines received, our team and our 
industry have been able to help prevent a hyper-stressed economy, 
shocked by the spread of a novel virus, from grinding to a halt. 
Throughout the worst stages of the pandemic, American Airlines 
continued leading the industry in number of U.S. communities served. We 
carried essential workers, including medical professionals, to the 
locations where they were most needed. And we were proud to transport 
critical supplies, including PPE and vaccines, on flights around the 
country and across the globe.
    It's because of the assistance extended to us through the CARES Act 
and the PSP that we've been able to support a nation and a world in 
crisis. It's brilliant policy, written during a time of extraordinary 
uncertainty, and our entire industry remains incredibly grateful for 
it.

    Question 2. Since receiving PSP funding, do you believe your 
airline is in a good position to meet current consumer travel demand?
    Answer. As we made the case for the PSP, we understood that 
receiving financial support from the Federal government would come with 
an obligation to serve. It was an obligation we were ready, willing, 
and humbled to accept. Demand for air travel came back swiftly in the 
spring of 2021 as COVID-19 vaccines became available and more widely 
distributed. Thanks to the PSP and just as intended, U.S. airlines were 
ready, and we sprang into action.
    At American, we grew our airline by 82 percent from the first 
quarter to the second quarter of 2021, providing significantly more 
service to the flying public than any of our competitors. We flew over 
24 million customers in quarter one and 44 million customers in quarter 
two, which is about one-third more than our next-closest competitor in 
both cases.
    This was an unprecedented ramp-up of our operation. No airline has 
ever attempted to expand at the pace we did after a demand shock of the 
magnitude we experienced during the pandemic. We took this aggressive 
approach because the central purpose of the PSP was to ensure we were 
able to provide air service when travelers decided they were ready to 
get back to flying. We knew we had an obligation to fulfill, and we are 
proud of how we have delivered.
    We're pleased to report that our operational performance was as 
good or better than before the pandemic. In fact, American closed the 
month of September with the best operational performance in our 
airline's history, 2020 notwithstanding. More recently, over the 
Thanksgiving holiday period, American operated 95.7 percent of the 
domestic capacity we operated during Thanksgiving 2019, and we did so 
with stellar performance.
    We continued that positive trend over the December holiday period 
as well, despite the challenges associated with major winter storms and 
the impact of the Omicron variant. We safely transported nearly 9.7 
million customers on more than 96,000 combined mainline and regional 
flights from Dec. 16th through January 2nd, canceling less than half 
the number of flights our top three major competitors canceled on a 
percentage basis. We did that while operating 35 percent more flights 
per day on average than those same competitors. That led us to 
outperform the entire industry in all combined operational metrics 
during the holiday period, ranking first in on-time departures, on-time 
arrivals. By every measure, we are ready to continue meeting current 
travel demand and we look forward to providing our customers with safe, 
reliable service in 2022.

    Airline Relationships with Labor. Congress focused on sustaining 
the airline workforce and ensuring continuity of operations during a 
time of intense uncertainty.
    From information shared with the Committee, it appears that those 
airlines and unions that worked together found solutions to COVID-19 
challenges, from addressing new health risks in the workplace to 
ensuring currency and qualification of a highly-skilled workforce.

    Question. How has your airline collaborated with unions to 
establish policies to meet workforce needs in response to the COVID-19 
pandemic? How did your airline's relationship with relevant labor 
unions enhance your ability to meet operational needs and the rise in 
air travel demand?
    Answer. American's strong collaboration with the unions which 
represent 84 percent of its team members began at the onset of the 
pandemic and continues today. Initially, AA instituted frequent regular 
meetings between the most senior leaders at AA, including our CEO and 
President, and union leaders to foster the shared goal of preserving 
jobs for our team members and services for our customers. And, over the 
past two years, AA and its unions made dozens of agreements outside of 
our collective bargaining agreements to support these same goals. 
Examples of these agreements include: first in the industry voluntary 
leave of absence programs which gave team members the option to 
continue their employment at a reduced wage while decreasing AA's labor 
costs; policies and agreements which provided paid time off to team 
members impacted by Covid-19; pay protection provisions for flight 
attendants whose schedules were impacted by reduced flying; providing 
reservations agents an enhanced ability to work from home during the 
pandemic; and programs to encourage vaccinations.
    AA also worked extensively with its unions to create and enforce 
Covid-19 safe workplace measures. These agreements and initiatives, by 
keeping team members connected to their jobs and providing a safe work 
environment, also supported AA's ability to meet operational needs and 
add flying as air travel demand. AA and the unions continue to build on 
this collaborative working relationship. For instance, a recent 
agreement with our flight attendants union created a first in industry 
holiday incentive program that contributed to AA's operational success 
over the holiday period.

    Contract Workforce Role and Staffing. At the height of the 
pandemic, airport and aviation workers stood with airlines and called 
on the Federal government to make sure our national air travel system 
remained strong, aviation jobs were protected, and that airlines were 
ready to meet consumer travel demand.
    For decades, airlines have outsourced essential service airport 
jobs like cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, security officers, and 
baggage handlers to contractors at major airports across the country. 
Contract workers play a critical role in our aviation system and 
continue to work hard on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic to 
keep travelers safe.
    The pandemic has exposed problems with how domestic travel 
disruptions are being addressed and how such response affects the 
airline industry's workforce. For example, an August 2021 SEIU survey 
conducted in Houston to assess the experiences of contracted airport 
workers detailed incidents of short staffing and mandatory overtime 
policies causing workforce fatigue, which has created a strained 
operational environment.

    Question. How will your airline ensure that the contracted 
workforce, which provides such critical services, is stable, well-
trained, and has adequate staffing levels needed to respond to 
operational challenges?
    Answer. Our vendors and suppliers are a critical extension of the 
American Airlines team. As such, they are expected to complete the same 
assigned training requirements that other AA team members must satisfy. 
In order to guarantee that our high standards are being met, we conduct 
supplier auditing and training program review where applicable. 
Additionally, our stations, operations groups, and business support 
groups work with suppliers to ensure they have adequate staffing levels 
to perform the required contracted functions. We developed these 
standards and processes because we strongly believe that it's in our 
best interest to have an adequately staffed and properly trained 
contract workforce.

    Airline Workforce Recall. The Committee is aware that, in 2020, 
airlines took varying approaches to temporarily reduce the number of 
active employees on their payroll to avoid involuntarily furloughing or 
laying off employees as they experienced growing pandemic-related 
financial difficulties. Many airlines offered employee programs to 
incentivize voluntary separations, including voluntary furloughs, early 
retirements, and temporary leaves of absences.
    Airlines that extended voluntary leave options to their employees 
reserved the right to recall such employees from leave when necessary. 
To the Committee's knowledge, most airlines started broad workforce 
recall efforts in the first quarter of 2021, employing particularly 
concentrated efforts to bring back employees in January and February 
2021. However, recalling employees has not been an easy process as 
airlines have reported higher workforce shortages and rates of 
absenteeism in certain workgroups, leaving the airlines more ill-
equipped to meet consumer travel demand.

    Question 1. Has your airline experienced challenges in recalling 
your workforce? If so, did your airline anticipate such issues in 
recalling employees from leave before initiating your recall efforts? 
Please describe the scope of the workforce recall challenges your 
airline faced in 2021.
    Answer. On Oct. 1, 2020, approximately 19,000 American Airlines 
team members were furloughed in conjunction with the expiration of the 
original CARES Act and PSP. While we had recalled all furloughed team 
members in late December 2020, we were still working to return all team 
members to work, as the operation necessitated. When demand came back 
swiftly in the spring of 2021, we executed the largest ramp up in our 
operational history in order to deliver on the commitment we made in 
accepting PSP funds. That created training and onboarding constraints 
across several workgroups.
    Our rapid growth in flying from Q1 to Q2 made pilot re-
qualification especially challenging. We had over 1,300 pilots who 
needed to go through this training. First, the FAA's requirements of 
three takeoffs and landings in a 90-day rolling period imposed timing 
challenges. That, coupled with our own desire to train to pilot 
proficiency rather than just to the minimums, strained our ability to 
operate every flight that we had scheduled.
    Not only were we returning 19,000 team members, but we were hiring 
thousands more to meet the seemingly overnight return of travel demand. 
Onboarding such a high volume of team members at the same time 
pressured our teams to keep up with everything from standard hiring 
procedures like background checks and fingerprinting, to getting all 
team members--either returned or new hires--up to speed on all training 
and compliance requirements.

    Question 2. Has your airline's workforce fully returned as of 
January 1, 2022? How did the status of your workforce's recall from 
voluntary leave programs affect your airline's ability to meet consumer 
air travel demand in 2021?
    Answer. Our team is the lifeblood of our airline, and in 2021 we 
were proud to welcome back team members who were furloughed when the 
PSP lapsed, while adding new hires to meet travel demand. In fact, we 
hired more than 16,000 new team members across all our workgroups last 
year. This included more than 1,350 pilots, over 1,600 flight 
attendants, an additional 1,000 tech ops and maintenance professionals, 
and more than 2,000 reservations agents. We believe demand for travel 
will remain strong in 2022, which is why we've set a target of hiring 
an additional 18,000 team members in 2022. These new hires will ensure 
that we have the team in place we need to operate the schedule we've 
planned.
Airline Operational and Scheduling Data.
    Question 1. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
please provide the number of flights your airline operated, the number 
of flights cancelled, the number of flights delayed more than 15 
minutes, the number of flights delayed more than 90 minutes, and the 
number of flights delayed more than six hours.
    Answer.
    Arrival-Based Delay Measurement (Time of delay measured on 
scheduled arrival time) Example: A flight scheduled to aarrive at 08:00 
with an actual arrival time of 09:45 would be counted in the total 
flights delayed >90 and >360 minutes, regardless of departure time.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Question 2. For the month of January 2022, please provide the 
number of daily flights your airline operated, the number of flights 
cancelled, the number of flights delayed more than 15 minutes, the 
number of flights delayed more than 90 minutes, and the number of 
flights delayed more than six hours.
    Answer.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Question 3. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
and January 2022, please detail any preemptive schedule changes that 
your airline made, including cancelling flights or changing the 
departure time by more than one hour.
    Answer. During the normal course of airline operations, schedule 
changes close-in to departure can occur for a variety of reasons 
including, but not limited to, international government restrictions, 
local airport restrictions, civil unrests and major weather events. 
Between October and December 2021, we faced some of these 
circumstances, namely:

   Hurricane Ida resulted in cancellations of our flight 
        schedule into New Orleans for several days in October as 
        airport ground conditions improved.

   Government restrictions in Argentina required us to adjust 
        our flight schedule in and out of Buenos Aires in October and 
        November.

   Civil unrest in Haiti led to the cancellations of our Port-
        Au-Prince flights from MIA and FLL in the first half of 
        December.

    Additionally, in December 2021, we focused on fortifying our 
staffing and fine-tuning our schedule around the peak holiday period. 
After the major DFW weather disruption at the end of October, we 
recognized that we had to make adjustments to our schedule for the 
second half of December and trimmed our schedule, at a time when we 
typically grow our operations. This provided an additional buffer, 
allowing us to meet customer demand while ensuring our schedule was 
fully supportable by our staffing, especially as unforeseen issues 
arose. Even after we made these cuts, we still ran an operation larger 
than all our peers.
    In early January 2022, we made proactive adjustments to our 
regional schedule to mitigate travel disruptions related to near-term 
pilot staffing challenges at several of our regional carriers, 
including impacts associated with the Omicron variant. We made these 
changes early to minimize disruptions to our customers' travel plans 
during their journeys.
    American's network offers more daily departures than any other 
major U.S. carrier, and the number of customers affected by these 
changes has been minimal. Importantly, we consistently contacted those 
affected to provide alternate travel options to get them to their 
destinations.
Airline Employment and Absenteeism Levels
    Question 1. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
please provide the number of full-and part-time employees employed by 
your airline.
    Answer.
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Question 2. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
and January 2022, please detail any significant absenteeism problems 
experienced by your airline.
    Answer. We have made it clear to our team members throughout the 
pandemic that if they are sick, they should stay home from work. 
Importantly, we have a pandemic leave policy in place to ensure team 
members have paid time away if they have to miss work due to COVID-19. 
Like many businesses across the economy, we saw an increase in sick 
calls toward the end of the year as omicron spread throughout the 
country. We worked to address that challenge while protecting our team, 
our customers and our airline. We developed holiday pay programs for 
peak travel days from mid-November to early January to support our 
operation and customers as they return to travel. We are particularly 
proud of how we ended the year, certainly relative to our competitors. 
Our team handled far more customers than any other airline over the 
holidays and we did so with much less disruption than our primary 
competitors. American was the top performing airline among our peers in 
December on each of the key operating metrics.

    Pilot Training and Requalification Delays. In early 2021, airlines 
started broad efforts to recall high numbers of employees from 
voluntary leaves of absences. Unlike other workgroups, pilots require 
significant flight training in order to meet qualifications to safely 
fly. With the rapid surge in air travel demand from the spring to the 
summer, the need to have pilots trained on time to fulfill airline 
schedules was crucial for airline flight operations.
    American had a problem with recalled pilots tasked to fly the 
airline's Boeing 737 series fleet. It's the Committee's understanding 
that these pilots needed to be qualified and ready to fly by the start 
of the summer schedule. However, an estimated 40 pilots did not receive 
their final recertification training by the end of June. This training 
delay impacted flight lines during the summer and contributed to 
American cancelling up to 1 percent of flights during June and July 
2021.
    The Allied Pilots Association, representing 15,000 of American's 
pilots, noted in June 2021 that ``every pilot that was furloughed must 
go through retraining before they can fly again. That's a key reason 
why the airline now finds itself short of fully trained, qualified 
pilots who can perform their tasks legally.''

    Question 1. Given that it takes months for a pilot to be retrained 
and requalified in the aircraft they are designated to fly, what were 
some of the reasons that these pilot training delays occurred?
    Answer. American has as many or more pilots and flight attendants 
per scheduled crew block hour this year as we had in the years 
preceding the pandemic. This is the best measure of the adequacy of our 
crew staffing because it reflects the number of active pilots and 
flight attendants who are eligible to fly, the number of aircraft we 
have available and scheduled for deployment, and the number of 
crewmembers we need for each flight based on the equipment and the 
destination.
    In early 2021, with the increased availability of COVID-19 
vaccines, we saw demand for air travel return faster than predicted. In 
response, our team executed the largest operational ramp-up in the 
history of our airline. This rapid growth presented challenges we've 
never experienced before, but ones we addressed proactively and 
aggressively.
    As we began to ramp-up, we prioritized getting those pilots who had 
been furloughed back into training and recertification as quickly as 
possible. The vast majority of our recalled pilots completed training 
by the end of June 2021. However, it took us slightly longer than we 
anticipated to complete training for a subset of our pilots, especially 
Boeing 737 first officers. That meant some of our 737 pilots weren't 
available early in the summer.
    We worked quickly to address this situation and after we fortified 
our pilot training and staffing, we entered July with a deeper bench of 
pilots. With that additional resilience, we saw continued operational 
improvement throughout the summer, which culminated in our best 
September operational performance in our airline's history. As noted 
above, we also performed well operationally--relative to our historical 
performance, and relative to our competitors--over the Thanksgiving, 
Christmas, and New Years holidays.

    Question 2. For pilots and other workgroups, what steps are you 
taking to plan for and ensure enough time to properly train current and 
new employees? How have lessons learned from the pandemic informed how 
you conduct workforce training now?
    Answer. As detailed previously, the training issues we experienced 
last spring were specific to Boeing 737 pilots and attributable to 
bringing back a large number of pilots very quickly. That backlog was 
remedied by summer and we experienced no further operational 
disruptions due to pilot training delays. We continue to monitor our 
training programs closely and we do not anticipate similar conditions 
arising in 2022.

    Airline Cancellations and Staffing. Following the Biden 
Administration's vaccine rollout in the first quarter of 2021, consumer 
travel demand began to rebound. On January 1, 2021, less than 2 percent 
of Americans had received one vaccine dose, and on that same day, only 
805,990 travelers passed through TSA security checkpoints.
    But on March 25, 2021, when more than 30 percent of Americans had 
received at least one dose, over 1.4 million travelers passed through 
TSA checkpoints. This uptick encouraged airlines to ramp up projected 
flight schedules for summer travel.
    American was one of a few airlines that set aggressive schedules to 
capture this demand. As one aviation data analyst observed, airlines 
acted ``very bullish on domestic opportunities,'' and were ``way more 
eager to be risk tolerant than they would [have been] pre-pandemic.''
    Some airlines struggled to provide staffing required to meet the 
returning demand, however, and were forced to cancel or delay thousands 
of flights during the peak travel periods over the summer. From March 
to the end of September, for example, American cancelled nearly 17,000 
flights. In these cases, bad weather was exacerbated by staffing 
shortages, exposing a brittle system susceptible to even minor hiccups. 
And of course, when flights are cancelled it is consumers that are the 
ultimate victims.
    Operations did get better. The airline industry, including 
American, has performed much better, particularly over the Thanksgiving 
holiday period when passenger volumes reached 90 percent of pre-
pandemic levels. TSA set COVID-era record of 2.4 million passengers 
screened on November 28, yet we didn't hear any reports of mass 
cancellations and delays, or hours-long lines.
    In fact, the airlines hit an on-time performance rate of 85 percent 
during the Thanksgiving period, the best since 2017. American cancelled 
less than 1 percent of its mainline and regional flights during this 
time.

    Question 1. In your view, did American have enough staff to meet 
the return of air travel demand this year?
    Answer. Thanks to the PSP, we have the team we need to operate the 
schedule we've planned. We've continued to welcome team members back to 
the company, and we are aggressively onboarding new hires. To be more 
specific, American has as many or more pilots and flight attendants per 
scheduled crew block hour this year as we had in the years preceding 
the pandemic. This is the best measure of the adequacy of our crew 
staffing because it reflects the number of active pilots and flight 
attendants who are eligible to fly, the number of aircraft we have 
available and scheduled for deployment, and the number of crewmembers 
we need for each flight based on the equipment and the destination.

    Question 2. What did American and the industry as a whole do 
differently that enabled travel during the Thanksgiving holiday to go 
so smoothly?
    Answer. The holidays are a time our customers count on us most and 
we take that responsibility seriously. To ensure that we could provide 
certainty for both our customers and team members, we took aggressive 
measures to address potential absenteeism by offering extra pay to 
frontline employees during the holidays. This holiday pay program was 
targeted to peak travel days through early-January. Put another way, we 
doubled down on our efforts to ensure a smooth operation and I'm proud 
to say we delivered.
    During the Thanksgiving holiday period--from November 19th through 
November 30th--we safely transported more than 6.7 million customers on 
more than 66,000 flights. On average, American operated nearly 1,500 
more flights per day than our major competitors. This represents about 
92 percent of our 2019 domestic flying for the same period. And while 
we're proud of these numbers and what they represent for American and 
the industry, it's the way we operated this holiday travel season that 
is even more impressive:

   On-time departures: Our combined mainline and regional D-0 
        was 70.9 percent, our best departure performance over the 
        Thanksgiving period since 2017 (excluding 2020).

   On-time arrivals: Our combined mainline and regional A+14 
        was 85.3 percent, 1.1 points better than our goal for the 
        period and our best A+14 Thanksgiving performance since 2017 
        (excluding 2020).

   Completion factor: Our combined mainline and regional 
        completion factor was 99.5 percent. This was 0.4 points better 
        than our goal for the period and our best Thanksgiving 
        completion factor performance since 2017 (excluding 2020).

    Hiring Delays. The Payroll Support Program allowed U.S. carriers to 
continue to employ almost 700,000 American workers as the pandemic 
decimated travel. Those workers and their families were able to keep 
the lights on and food on the table during an incredibly uncertain time 
in our Nation's history. I am happy that PSP worked, and jobs were 
saved. That was the goal. But now, it is up to the airlines to continue 
hiring to reach full capacity.
    This spring, as people returned to travel, staffing gaps were 
clear. Staffing shortages coupled with outside forces like weather, IT 
issues, or staff calling in sick left a fragile system vulnerable to 
disruption. These are the conditions that we saw over the summer. While 
some airlines have made progress in hiring, overall, U.S. passenger 
airlines employ 8.8 percent fewer employees than in pre-pandemic 
September 2019.

    Question. For the last several months instead of hiring more 
employees, it appears that American is falling more and more short of 
2019 levels according to information from DOT. Does American need to 
hire more employees to meet travel demand?
    Answer. Many of the reductions in our team have come from 
management and support staff, as opposed to frontline team members. 
American has as many or more pilots and flight attendants per scheduled 
crew block hour this year as we had in the years preceding the 
pandemic. This is the best measure of the adequacy of our crew staffing 
because it reflects the number of active pilots and flight attendants 
who are eligible to fly, the number of aircraft we have available and 
scheduled for deployment, and the number of crewmembers we need for 
each flight based on the equipment and the destination.
    Despite the rapid return of travel demand in 2021, our airline 
operations remain below 2019 levels, so we do not believe our 2019 
staffing levels are the best measure for evaluating our current 
staffing needs. Early in the pandemic, we recognized that American 
would be smaller moving forward and we had to right-size all aspects of 
our airline to adjust to that new reality. However, when we did 
experience a rise in travel demand, were pleased to begin recalling 
team members who had been on voluntary leave. The recovery was strong 
enough that we were even able to add 16,000 new employees across all 
our workgroups. We believe demand for travel will remain strong in 
2022, which is why we've set a target of hiring an additional 18,000 
team members in 2022. These hires will ensure that we continue to have 
the team in place we need to operate the schedule we've planned.

    Consumer Refunds. In 2020, the Department of Transportation 
(``DOT'') received 29,687 refund complaints against U.S. airlines, a 
4,634 percent increase over 2019. And while the problem has started to 
get better, DOT still received 5,129 refund complaints in September 
2021, well above the 627 filed against U.S. airlines for all of 2019.
    DOT has a rulemaking in the Unified Agenda which says that it is 
looking at defining what constitutes a ``cancellation'' and a 
``significant delay''--the two things that entitle a customer to a 
refund. Currently, DOT lets airlines make their own determinations as 
to whether or not a flight is cancelled, and the number of hours that 
account for a ``significant'' delay.

    Question 1. In your view, how many hours does a flight have to be 
delayed before a passenger is entitled to a refund?
    Answer. American Airlines offers refunds to our customers if their 
flights are cancelled or delayed for more than four hours. We provide 
even greater flexibility closer to travel. Specifically, if there is a 
schedule change or delay of more than 90 minutes within 72 hours of 
scheduled travel, we will also provide a refund.

    Question 2. If the reluctance to issue refunds was just an issue of 
preserving cash on hand, then why were refund complaints still so high 
in 2021?
    Answer. AA has honored its refund policy and processes refund 
requests within the Department of Transportation's (DOT) refund 
processing timelines. We did not withhold refunds, attempt to give 
travel credit when refunds were due, or retroactively apply a change to 
the contract of carriage. We have honored our commitments, in a timely 
fashion, throughout the pandemic, which is evidenced by the fact that 
we paid $3.2 billion in refunds in 2020 alone.

    PSP Compliance. Under section 4116(a)(2) of the CARES Act, no 
corporate officer or employee of your airline whose total compensation 
exceeded $425,000 in calendar year 2019 (other than an employee whose 
compensation is determined through an existing collective bargaining 
agreement entered into prior to the enactment of the CARES Act) was 
permitted to receive from your airline, severance pay or other benefits 
upon termination of employment which exceeds twice the maximum total 
compensation received by the corporate officer or employee in 2019. Yet 
in the first quarter of 2021, your airline reported to the Department 
of the Treasury that some employees and corporate officers had received 
severance pay or other benefits after March 24, 2020 which more than 
doubled their 2019 total compensation.

    Question 1. Please explain whether the severance pay or other 
benefits provided to these employees and corporate officers complied 
with the CARES Act and associated Payroll Support Program requirements.
    Answer. American Airlines did not have any employees or corporate 
officers who received severance pay or other benefits after March 24, 
2020 that exceeded twice their 2019 total compensation. Accordingly, in 
our first quarter 2021 compliance report to the Department of the 
Treasury (UST), we reported this amount as 0. Since we received your 
question, we have looked at the way our Q1 2021 reporting was recorded 
by UST and it appears UST may have recorded our response incorrectly. 
We are reaching out to UST to ensure their reporting system reflects 
the response we provided.

    Question 2. Are you aware of any non-compliances associated with 
your airline's receipt of Payroll Support Program funding?
    Answer. No.
                                 ______
                                 
 Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Richard Blumenthal to 
                              Doug Parker
    Compensation for Consumers. Since March 2020, flight delays and 
cancellations have disrupted plans for countless travelers--and the 
most recent cancellations left people stranded in airports and away 
from family during the winter holiday season. Senator Markey and I have 
repeatedly called for full cash refunds for impacted consumers. But 
U.S. airlines have been slow to provide credits and legally-required 
refunds and have hidden behind vague ticketing policies. Media reports 
indicate that airlines are currently holding approximately $20 billion 
worth of travel vouchers and unrefunded ticket values.

    Question 1. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that American Airlines currently owes consumers? Please provide the 
amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. American Airlines offers refunds to our customers if their 
flights are cancelled or delayed for more than four hours. We provide 
even greater flexibility closer to travel. Specifically, if there is a 
schedule change or delay of more than 90 minutes within 72 hours of 
scheduled travel, we will also provide a refund.
    AA has honored its refund policy and processes refund requests 
within the Department of Transportation's (DOT) refund processing 
timelines. We did not withhold refunds, attempt to give travel credit 
when refunds were due, or retroactively apply a change to the contract 
of carriage. We have honored our commitments, in a timely fashion, 
throughout the pandemic, which is evidenced by the fact that we paid 
$3.2 billion in cash refunds in 2020 alone--about 2.5x more than the 
$1.3 billion in cash refunds we issued in 2019.
    We also eliminated change fees on a broad basis allowing customers 
the flexibility to change their travel plans.
    For people who purchased a nonrefundable ticket and then wanted to 
cancel their plans, we are proud of the additional flexibility we have 
offered to these customers during the pandemic. For tickets purchased 
in 2019 and 2020 that were scheduled to expire or were for scheduled 
travel from March 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021 we have extended the 
period for travel to March 31, 2022. In addition, customers with stored 
value related to unused tickets for travel to several international 
destinations can use the value of their unused ticket through December 
31, 2022.
    If special circumstances prevent a customer from traveling by these 
dates, our team will work closely with that customer to ensure they are 
well cared for.

    Question 2. Does American Airlines gain revenue (such as from 
interest) from the value of unused travel vouchers that are currently 
held in company accounts? If so, how much revenue has American Airlines 
collected from the funds in your accounts that are linked to unused 
travel vouchers since March 2020?
    Answer. Since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020 AA has 
incurred significant cash operating losses, even after the application 
of funds from the Payroll Support Program, due to the material 
deterioration in our revenues. Any cash proceeds related to unused 
tickets were utilized to fund operations rather than generate 
additional revenue such as interest income.

    Question 3. If American Airlines still owes consumers under 
Question 1, by when will it have completed issuing its refunds? What is 
the reason for this delay?
    Answer. American Airlines has honored its refund policy\1\ and 
consistently processes refund requests within the Department of 
Transportation's refund processing timelines.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ American Airlines offers refunds to our customers if their 
flights are cancelled or delayed for more than four hours. We provide 
even greater flexibility closer to travel. Specifically, if there is a 
schedule change or delay of more than 90 minutes within 72 hours of 
scheduled travel, we will also provide a refund.

    Question 4. American Airlines reportedly cancelled nearly 200 
flights in the last week. How many consumers were impacted by these 
cancellations?
    Answer. During the holiday period (the last half of December, 
American Airlines performed better than the entire industry in all 
combined operational metrics, ranking first in on-time departures (D-
0), on-time arrivals (A+14) and completion factor, including two zero-
cancel mainline days during the period. By and large, American was the 
most reliable carrier by an incredible margin, including delivering a 
D-0 that was 15 percentage points higher and completion factor that was 
a full 2.5 percentage points better than the industry average. 
Moreover, American Airlines achieved these industry-leading metrics 
while operating 35 percent more flights per day on average than those 
same competitors. For the period from December 24th through 28th, 
51,116 passengers out of more than 2.5 million were affected by 
cancellations. Of those passengers impacted, 66 percent were rebooked 
automatically by our systems with 55 percent of those re-booked on 
flights for the same day. The balance of the impacted passengers were 
accommodated by our airport or reservations teams, in compliance with 
our Customer Service Plan.

    Question 5. Will American Airlines commit to providing full cash 
refunds to all impacted consumers? If not, explain why not and what 
compensation you will issue to consumers.
    Answer. As stated previously, American Airlines has honored its 
refund policy\2\ and consistently processes refund requests within the 
DOT's refund processing timelines. That remains the case for passengers 
impacted by cancellations during the recent holiday season.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ American Airlines offers refunds to our customers if their 
flights are cancelled or delayed for more than four hours. We provide 
even greater flexibility closer to travel. Specifically, if there is a 
schedule change or delay of more than 90 minutes within 72 hours of 
scheduled travel, we will also provide a refund.

    Question 6. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that American Airlines owe consumers for these cancellations? Please 
provide the amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. American Airlines prioritized the rebooking of impacted 
passengers and has provided refunds for those customers whose flights 
were canceled. We continue to process refund requests within the DOT's 
refund processing timelines.

    Question 7. By when does American Airlines plan to have fully 
reimbursed consumers?
    Answer. As stated in previous responses, AA has consistently 
honored its refund policy and processes refund requests within the 
DOT's refund processing timelines. That remains the case for passengers 
impacted by cancellations during the recent holiday season.

    Question 8. Please explain the causes of the recent flight 
cancellations as well as the steps that American Airlines is 
implementing to prevent a repeat of these cancellations.
    Answer. American Airlines, like others in the industry, has been 
impacted by the Omicron surge, which resulted in higher than normal 
COVID-related sick calls. In some instances, we made the difficult 
decision to pre-cancel some flights to allow us to proactively notify 
and accommodate our customers and avoid last-minute disruptions at the 
airport.
    Our operation was also impacted by significant winter weather, 
including winter storms in Chicago, the Washington, D.C. region, and 
certain popular skiing destinations. We recovered our operation quickly 
from each storm and worked in advance to pre-cancel flights when 
appropriate to prevent late-arising disruptions for our customers.
    Despite these challenges, during the busy holiday travel season, 
American performed better than its peers in all combined (mainline and 
regional) operational metrics including completion factor, D-0 and 
A+14. Moreover, we accomplished this while operating 35 percent more 
flights per day than our major competitors.
    We've recovered our operation quickly after each weather event and 
for other cancels from this period, but there could be additional 
weather events that cause disruption to our operation and our crew 
members' flight sequences. As we did during the holidays, we'll be as 
proactive as possible in our approach to accommodate both customers and 
our team members.
    Our COVID-related sick rates have been consistent over the past few 
days and our crew scheduling team is managing any open crew time.

    Question 9. Does American Airlines maintain interline agreements 
with other carriers to allow passengers affected by disruptions an 
alternate means of getting to their destinations? If not, why not?
    Answer. American Airlines is a participant in many interline 
agreements with other U.S. and international carriers including but not 
limited to our oneworld and codeshare partners. Re-accommodation of 
customers is part of these agreements and is routinely used to ensure 
customers get to their destinations.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Brian Schatz to 
                              Doug Parker
    Question 1. The Hawaiian Tourism Authority has made available 
public service videos to educate the public about being respectful 
tourists when they visit Hawaii.*

   In what ways are these videos made available to Hawaii-bound 
        travelers on your aircraft?

   Is one or more of these videos mandatory in some form for 
        in-bound Hawaii travelers using in-flight entertainment?

   If not, what hardware, software or policy barriers prevent 
        the videos from being made mandatory?

   Will you commit to making these videos mandatory for all 
        Hawaii-bound travelers using in-flight entertainment within the 
        next six months?

    *Videos available here: https://www.youtube.com/c/gohawaii
    Answer. As the world's largest airline, American Airlines operates 
numerous different aircraft across our fleet, and those aircraft 
contain a variety of in-flight entertainment systems. Because we 
operate both aircraft that have seatback in-flight entertainment 
systems and those without, we do not make route specific video 
passenger announcements mandatory for our passengers. However, we have 
instructed flight attendants on Hawaii-bound flights, using aircraft 
with seatback in-flight entertainment systems, to play a short video 
describing the plants and animals declaration form the State of Hawaii 
requires passengers to complete upon arrival. In November 2021, at the 
request of the Hawai`i Visitors & Convention Bureau, we added a 30-
second video from the Malama Hawaii series that now plays immediately 
after the video describing the agricultural declaration form.

    Question 2. The 2018 FAA reauthorization directed the agency to 
establish minimum seat sizes. There was an acknowledgement at the time 
that tighter seats and cramped quarters were causing conflicts between 
passengers and a potential safety hazard if there was an emergency. 
That seems even more important today. Most of the airline industry 
opposed the measure and the last administration failed to advance the 
rulemaking.

   Do you oppose minimum seat size standards?

   Do you believe the FAA should finalize regulations on 
        minimum seat dimensions?
    Answer. Safety will always be American's top priority. We supported 
the provision you referenced during the consideration of the FAA bill, 
and we continue to fully support the FAA's evaluation of seat sizes and 
evacuation procedures. We believe any study and evaluation will show 
that American's current seat sizes across our various fleets are safe 
for the travelling public.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Jacky Rosen to 
                              Doug Parker
    Jet Fuel Supply. In July of this year, Reno-Tahoe Airport, the 
second largest airport in Nevada, faced a severe shortage of jet fuel 
available for aircrafts flying out of the airport. This was a 
potentially catastrophic issue that could have adversely impacted tens 
of thousands of travelers coming to and from Nevada and risked delays 
in vital cargo coming to the state. We have since learned that jet fuel 
shipments are based on travel trends from the previous year to decide 
how much jet fuel pipeline space they need to purchase in order to meet 
current travel demand. But in 2020, demand was artificially low, as we 
dealt with an unpredictable global pandemic that completed halted air 
travel. As such, the data on air travel trends for 2020 was not a 
reliable gauge for predicting air travel demand in 2021, or the jet 
fuel necessary to accommodate that demand. Fortunately, my office, in 
partnership with the airport and impacted airlines, worked together to 
manage the situation. However, we must be better prepared to face 
similar situations in the future--it was jet fuel this time, but one 
could easily imagine relying on past year's numbers to determine future 
demand for staffing, scheduled flights, or supply purchases--
potentially with serious negative effects.
    Question. Mr. Parker, would you please briefly discuss what 
American Airlines is doing to ensure that you have sufficient jet fuel 
supply to meet demand for travel in 2022, which may very well 
significantly exceed travel in 2021? And can you discuss how you make 
predictions for future air travel demand, generally, given that 2020 
was a statistical anomaly?
    Answer. As you noted, jet fuel shortages at Reno-Tahoe Airport 
(RNO) this summer contributed to concerns over the potential for 
operational disruptions at the airport. The situation required numerous 
airlines to employ measures such as tankering, technical stops and 
outright flight cancellations to reduce jet fuel uplifts and conserve 
limited inventory at RNO. However, it should be noted that the 
situation at RNO this summer did not occur because airlines failed to 
procure enough fuel. Rather, the challenge was attributable to a lack 
of available capacity for jet fuel shippers on the Kinder Morgan North 
Line to get the fuel that we did have to the right location amid supply 
chain challenges.
    The primary challenge in RNO is pipeline allocation, which is 
derived by prior 12-month shipping history. Due to a dramatic decrease 
in aviation operations because of COVID-19, much of jet shippers' line 
space was shifted to gasoline and diesel shippers as demand for road 
fuels did not fall as dramatically as demand for air travel. The 
challenge in RNO was further compounded by a lack of alternatives to 
get fuel into the airport. This is attributable to the national truck 
driver shortage, which was further amplified by intense forest fire 
fighting that also needed fuel trucked in. Additionally, our ability to 
tanker fuel to RNO was hampered by the extreme heat and high altitude 
of the location.
    We recognized the significance of this issue even before the busy 
summer travel season and the aviation industry was engaged with FERC to 
find solutions to the allocation impacts on airlines in an effort to 
restore pipeline capacity to pre-pandemic levels. However, such efforts 
ultimately did not come to fruition. We have asked FERC to improve 
transparency on basic, non-proprietary statistics about the types and 
volume of product moved on a given pipeline, which would dramatically 
improve our ability to predict pipeline fuel supply shortfalls, and 
plan accordingly. Additionally, we continue to seek a restoration of 
pipeline capacity and improvement in the availability of trucks and 
truck drivers to transport fuels to prevent the same situation from 
happening again.
                                 ______
                                 
  Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Raphael Warnock to 
                              Doug Parker
    Crew Safety. The Payroll Support Program has been a critical tool 
for protecting airline workers' jobs throughout the pandemic. Most of 
the airlines testified to the various policies and programs they have 
implemented to help protect passengers and prevent further spread of 
the coronavirus. However testimony was also given about the terrible 
harassment and violent abuse airline crew members have faced at an 
alarming rate since the beginning of the pandemic. The Federal Aviation 
Administration and Department of Justice, under the Biden 
Administration have stepped up enforcement and prosecution efforts 
related to unruly passengers.
    Question. What is your airline doing to protect your employees' 
physical health and wellbeing--not just against COVID, but unruly 
passengers, as well?
    Answer. As you know, customer misconduct incidents have increased 
over the last 18 months. And while these incidents are decreasing now, 
even one is too many and we are continuing to do everything we can to 
mitigate them. Since this disturbing trend began, we have taken 
numerous steps to protect our team members and lessen the severity and 
number of these incidents, including:

   Enforcing a zero-tolerance policy against harmful or 
        threatening behavior toward our team members and placing any 
        customer who violates this policy on our Internal Refuse List, 
        ensuring they're never allowed to fly with American Airlines 
        again;

   Ending the sale of alcohol in the main cabin;

   Working with our airport, law enforcement and union 
        partners, as well as government agencies, to find ways to 
        mitigate passenger misconduct on the ground and in the air, 
        including by discouraging vendors from permitting ``to go'' 
        alcohol sales in airports;

   Encouraging participation in TSA's Crew Member Self Defense 
        Program for interested crewmembers;

   Staying in regular contact with state and local law 
        enforcement agencies, the FAA, FBI and TSA to ensure incidents 
        are followed through on and properly prosecuted; and,

   Hosting town halls throughout our network to hear team 
        member concerns and share updates.

    Voluntary Separation Programs & Rebuilding the Workforce. The 
Payroll Support Program was able to keep hundreds of thousands of hard 
working Americans--including many Georgians--on the job throughout the 
pandemic. However, no one Federal program could make up for all the 
losses or solve all the challenges inflicted upon the airline industry 
by the pandemic. And airlines had to adjust. As a result, we saw the 
airline workforce reduced significantly--mostly through voluntary 
separation and early retirement packages offered by airlines.

    Question 1. Could you expound on the need for these programs and 
how you worked with your employees to implement them?
    Answer. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, American Airlines 
had to act quickly to adjust to dramatically lower demand for air 
travel. These changes included significantly reducing our schedule 
beginning in March 2020 and continuing into the summer. The company 
considered different options that would help adjust to lower demand and 
to do what's best for team members.
    From the time the CARES Act was signed in March 2020, we had a 
stated goal of avoiding furloughs because we believed demand for air 
travel would steadily rebound as the impact of COVID-19 dissipated. 
That unfortunately was not the case. In June 2020, our passenger 
revenues were more than 80 percent lower than June 2019. And with 
infection rates increasing and several states reestablishing quarantine 
restrictions, demand for air travel was slowing again.
    We knew American would be smaller moving forward and we had to 
right-size all aspects of our airline to adjust to that new reality. 
Although we did not want to lose any team members, we created generous 
programs--all of which were voluntary--intended to help offset as many 
frontline furloughs as possible. We worked with our union partners to 
offer both (a) packages to encourage early retirements for those to 
whom it made sense; and (b) packages to encourage temporary leaves for 
those to whom it made sense. We asked everyone to carefully consider 
the voluntary options as they thought about what was best for their 
families.

    Question 2. How did these programs allow you to invest in and 
support your employees?
    Answer. These programs allowed us to care for as many team members 
as possible in a manner that met their individual needs. It also meant 
that we would be in a position to have the team necessary to ramp up 
operations as soon as demand for travel returned. As travel rebounded 
quicker than anticipated, it necessitated canceling the voluntary 
leaves of absence for some of our team members.
    Ultimately, these programs and the overwhelming success of PSP mean 
that we now have the team we need to operate an ambitious schedule that 
matches consumer demand.

    Question 3. As air traffic has begun to bounce back, what are your 
plans for rehiring and rebuilding your workforce?
    Answer. Our team is the lifeblood of our airline, and in 2021 we 
were proud to welcome back team members who were furloughed when the 
PSP lapsed. We were also pleased to share with the committee that 
American hired more than 16,000 new team members across all our 
workgroups last year. This included more than 1,350 pilots, over 1,600 
flight attendants, an additional 1,000 tech ops and maintenance 
professionals, and more than 2,000 reservations agents. Early 
indicators suggest that demand for travel remains strong, which is why 
we've set a target of hiring an additional 18,000 team members in 2022.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to 
                             Gary C. Kelly
    Payroll Support Program Impact. Congress created the Payroll 
Support Program to protect the airline industry's workforce, support 
the continuity of safe and essential travel, and ensure the industry's 
ability to remain viable to meet future consumer travel demand. The 
Department of the Treasury disbursed a total of $54 billion to 
passenger airlines, across three rounds of PSP, to provide critical 
relief during the pandemic.
    We know that PSP made a difference in December 2020, when Congress 
extended the program, because airline recipients had to recall 
thousands of employees who were furloughed after September 30, 2020 
when the first round of PSP ended.
    According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), between 
October 2020 and February 2021, major airlines hired or brought back 
28,179 workers. These workers came back just in time for the air travel 
rebound, which took off in March 2021. As of September 2021, airlines 
were approximately 8.8 percent below their pre-pandemic employment 
levels according to BTS data. I am interested in learning from your 
airline on how the Payroll Support Program impacted your workforce and 
operations. Mr. Kelly, Southwest received $7.2 billion in PSP funds.

    Question 1. If not for PSP funding, what do you think the status of 
your workforce would look like today? Would your airline have been able 
to survive the pandemic, absent PSP funding?
    Answer. At Southwest Airlines, the Payroll Support Program (PSP) 
helped preserve our Employees' jobs, pay, and benefits, protecting the 
livelihoods of thousands of airline workers. If PSP funding had not 
become available, we would have faced the likely potential of 
furloughing thousands of Employees and cutting the pay of many 
thousands more--two actions we have never done in our 51-year history. 
Southwest would have survived the pandemic without PSP--thanks in part 
to having record cash-on-hand, low debt, and investor-grade credit--but 
our Company would have been a lot smaller in terms of Employee 
headcount and the number of cities served. PSP allowed us to not only 
maintain service at every one of our domestic airports, but we were 
able to add 18 new airports in 2020 and 2021 because the Company had 
the people and the planes to serve new markets. We also implemented 
voluntary, temporary paid leave programs for our Employees, with 
reduced flight schedules to align supply with the reduced demand for 
air travel. PSP allowed us to build programs that could also support 
quick recall and training of Employees to aid in our business recovery.

    Question 2. Since receiving PSP funding, do you believe your 
airline is in a good position to meet current consumer travel demand?
    Answer. As explained above, in addition to the critical support 
provided by PSP, Southwest Airlines entered the pandemic in a strong 
financial position and responded with aggressive measures to keep the 
company solvent. These actions allowed us to maintain service at every 
domestic airport we served before the pandemic. In addition, in the 
last 22 months, we launched service to 18 new airports, meeting rising 
consumer demand for adventure and outdoor travel as well as driving 
competition in the market. We have also continually made adjustments to 
our schedule to better align our resources, hire more people, and 
prepare for continual challenges in this fluid environment to better 
serve our Customers.

    Airline Relationships with Labor. Congress focused on sustaining 
the airline workforce and ensuring continuity of operations during a 
time of intense uncertainty.
    From information shared with the Committee, it appears that those 
airlines and unions that worked together found solutions to COVID-19 
challenges, from addressing new health risks in the workplace to 
ensuring currency and qualification of a highly-skilled workforce.

    Question. How has your airline collaborated with unions to 
establish policies to meet workforce needs in response to the COVID-19 
pandemic? How did your airline's relationship with relevant labor 
unions enhance your ability to meet operational needs and the rise in 
air travel demand?
    Answer. Southwest Airlines is in near-daily contact with our unions 
to work through the numerous unique issues this pandemic has caused. We 
have strong, productive working relationships with each of the eight 
unions who represent 12 Employee workgroups. During the pandemic we 
have implemented Company policies and negotiated a number of 
contractual changes with our unions to further safety, wellness, and a 
successful operation. These include agreements on quarantine leave and 
pay policies, changes to our onboard cleaning procedures, and many 
others.
    Like many industries, Southwest is faced with the challenge of 
retaining and hiring enough staff to keep up with demand and the high 
rates of absenteeism that each of these COVID-19 spikes can cause. We 
have worked with our unions to address starting pay for a number of our 
operational positions in order to present desirable career 
opportunities in a very competitive hiring environment. Additionally, 
to help make the holiday travel season successful, our unions partnered 
with us on multi-layered incentive plans, allowing our airline to be 
better staffed during a very high-demand time of the year.

    Contract Workforce Role and Staffing. At the height of the 
pandemic, airport and aviation workers stood with airlines and called 
on the Federal government to make sure our national air travel system 
remained strong, aviation jobs were protected, and that airlines were 
ready to meet consumer travel demand.
    For decades, airlines have outsourced essential service airport 
jobs like cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, security officers, and 
baggage handlers to contractors at major airports across the country. 
Contract workers play a critical role in our aviation system and 
continue to work hard on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic to 
keep travelers safe.
    The pandemic has exposed problems with how domestic travel 
disruptions are being addressed and how such response affects the 
airline industry's workforce. For example, an August 2021 SEIU survey 
conducted in Houston to assess the experiences of contracted airport 
workers detailed incidents of short staffing and mandatory overtime 
policies causing workforce fatigue, which has created a strained 
operational environment.

    Question. How will your airline ensure that the contracted 
workforce, which provides such critical services, is stable, well-
trained, and has adequate staffing levels needed to respond to 
operational challenges?
    Answer. The challenges you referenced are not limited to the 
airline industry. We have witnessed staffing shortages throughout the 
travel and hospitality sectors. This includes hotels and airport 
concessions, as well as airport and airline contracting services. While 
the majority of our workforce is comprised of full-time and unionized 
Southwest Employees, we have a network of suppliers that manage various 
lines of business. We are working with our suppliers to make sure they 
can perform the contracts to our standards and to our Customers' 
standards. This includes in many cases our suppliers raising their wage 
rates well above the Federal or state minimum wage.
    Overall, we are pursuing a myriad of solutions in an effort to 
overcome the staffing challenge, including:

Supplier Stability
   Ensuring our suppliers' pay rates are competitive and 
        sustainable (adjustments due to minimum and living wage changes 
        and market challenges)

   Empowering multiple teams (at both the local and corporate 
        levels) to review contracts and manage relationships

   The ability for Southwest to request financials from 
        suppliers as needed

   Having a performance plan in place. If a supplier is not 
        performing, they will be placed on probation, and if they 
        continue to have poor performance, they would be replaced
Training
   Requiring third-party suppliers to successfully complete 
        Southwest and Federally required training (initial and 
        recurrent)

   Requiring below-the-wing suppliers to receive on-the-job 
        training prior to attending initial training class

   Tracking training compliance in our Vendor Management System 
        and our internal training management system

   Dedicating a Team of Southwest Employees to oversight of 
        contracted workforce training
Staffing
   Requiring staffing updates on a regular basis during peak 
        operational timeframes and holding regularly scheduled meetings 
        with suppliers to better understand any specific challenges 
        that they may be having as well as what is being done to 
        address them

   Holding operational calls with suppliers and their corporate 
        representatives to address challenges and request action plans

    Airline Workforce Recall. The Committee is aware that, in 2020, 
airlines took varying approaches to temporarily reduce the number of 
active employees on their payroll to avoid involuntarily furloughing or 
laying off employees as they experienced growing pandemic-related 
financial difficulties. Many airlines offered employee programs to 
incentivize voluntary separations, including voluntary furloughs, early 
retirements, and temporary leaves of absences.
    Airlines that extended voluntary leave options to their employees 
reserved the right to recall such employees from leave when necessary. 
To the Committee's knowledge, most airlines started broad workforce 
recall efforts in the first quarter of 2021, employing particularly 
concentrated efforts to bring back employees in January and February 
2021. However, recalling employees has not been an easy process as 
airlines have reported higher workforce shortages and rates of 
absenteeism in certain workgroups, leaving the airlines more ill-
equipped to meet consumer travel demand.

    Question 1. Has your airline experienced challenges in recalling 
your workforce? If so, did your airline anticipate such issues in 
recalling employees from leave before initiating your recall efforts? 
Please describe the scope of the workforce recall challenges your 
airline faced in 2021.
    Answer. As explained below, there are hurdles in quickly recalling 
certain Employees who require extensive and specialized training, with 
our Pilots (Flight Operations) being the one work group that requires 
the most lead time and coordination. As mentioned in Southwest's August 
2, 2021 letter to Senator Cantwell, there were two issues we did not 
foresee a year ago, which are related to the Employee recall issue. 
First, the rapid increase in consumer demand beginning around June of 
2020 and thus the need to recall more Employees at a faster rate than 
anticipated. And second, higher-than-normal rate of Employee 
absenteeism since June of last year, which requires more Employees to 
operate the schedule (i.e., more Employees per flight on average) than 
it did prior to the pandemic.
    In Southwest's Flight Operations department, there were known 
training resource constraints that limited the rate of recalls for our 
Pilots. Pilots were metered in from June 1, 2021 through January 1, 
2022, and the last remaining group will be recalled effective February 
1, 2022. Requalifying Pilots is a lengthy process that can take up to 
two months because of the recency requirements involved in maintaining 
FAA-required currency. For those Pilots who participated in our 
Extended Time Off (``ExTO'') programs, many lost their currency which 
requires a training curriculum of ground school and flight training 
upon recall to active status. Upon the return of Customer demand in 
early 2021, we acted quickly to become adequately staffed again and 
began recalling Pilots with a planned recall process that involved both 
voluntary and involuntary recall actions. Pilots voluntarily wishing to 
return before their scheduled ExTO return date were recalled before 
those not wishing to return in order to best serve our People while 
supporting the restoration of air service.
    For Southwest's Inflight department, we followed our process for 
recalling Flight Attendants. Six-month ExTO Flight Attendants came back 
in March 2021 after six months of the ExTO program were completed. All 
12-and 18-month ExTO Flight Attendants were recalled early to support 
the summer operation. They were notified of this in spring 2021 and 
were officially returned on June 1, 2021. The 12-month ExTO program was 
designed for Flight Attendants to have returned in September 2021, and 
the 18-month program was designed for them to return in March 2022.

    Question 2. Has your airline's workforce fully returned as of 
January 1, 2022? How did the status of your workforce's recall from 
voluntary leave programs affect your airline's ability to meet consumer 
air travel demand in 2021?
    Answer. We had 244 Employees still on ExTO as of January 1, 2022. 
Of those, 115 Employees returned to work on January 2, 2022, leaving 
129 on ExTO.
    The vast majority of these Employees are Pilots. All Pilots have 
now been notified of their recall with the last 125 Pilots returning 
effective February 1, 2022. We expect Pilots returning on February 1, 
2022 to enter into requalification training and the vast majority to 
integrate within our operation by March 31, 2022. A limiting factor on 
our ability to train more Pilots is the supply of Flight Instructors. 
The current training time from hiring to completion of training for a 
Flight Instructor is just over six months.
    For Inflight, no Flight Attendants remained on ExTO after June 1, 
2021.
Airline Operational and Scheduling Data.
    Question 1. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
please provide the number of flights your airline operated, the number 
of flights cancelled, the number of flights delayed more than 15 
minutes, the number of flights delayed more than 90 minutes, and the 
number of flights delayed more than six hours.
    Answer.
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Question 2. For the month of January 2022, please provide the 
number of daily flights your airline operated, the number of flights 
cancelled, the number of flights delayed more than 15 minutes, the 
number of flights delayed more than 90 minutes, and the number of 
flights delayed more than six hours.
    Answer.
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Question 3. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
and January 2022, please detail any preemptive schedule changes that 
your airline made, including cancelling flights or changing the 
departure time by more than one hour.
    Answer. As is the normal course of business for airlines, we adjust 
our flight schedules on a regular basis to address a variety of issues.
Airline Employment and Absenteeism Levels.
    Question 1. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
please provide the number of full-and part-time employees employed by 
your airline.
    Answer.
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Question 2. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
and January 2022, please detail any significant absenteeism problems 
experienced by your airline.
    Answer. Southwest Airlines has experienced higher rates of 
absenteeism, not unlike many companies during the pandemic, and the 
reasons for the absenteeism are varied. Despite the challenges we have 
faced, our Employees continue to demonstrate integrity and pride in 
their work. They are our greatest strength. In response to the added 
pressures that our Employees now operate under, we have offered several 
different pay incentives over the past few months.
    This includes paying time-and-a-half for original trips and double-
time for extra trips during the week of Thanksgiving, the last two 
weeks of December, and continuing through February 8, 2022, with 
further extensions possible.
    For Inflight, absenteeism rates are higher than historical rates. 
We continue to plan more Flight Attendant Reserves to account for this 
increase in the trends. We have also experienced higher rates of 
Inactive Flight Attendants (i.e., Flight Attendants who are not bidding 
for work, mostly due to long-term medical leaves).

    Pilot Training and Requalification Delays. In early 2021, airlines 
started broad efforts to recall high numbers of employees from 
voluntary leaves of absences. Unlike other workgroups, pilots require 
significant flight training in order to meet qualifications to safely 
fly. With the rapid surge in air travel demand from the spring to the 
summer, the need to have pilots trained on time to fulfill airline 
schedules was crucial for airline flight operations.
    The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (``SWAPA'') expressed 
concerns to airline management in early 2021 about having enough pilots 
to carry out Southwest's 2021 flight schedule. SWAPA recommended 
recalling flight crews early for training to get them requalified to 
fly again before peak summer travel periods. SWAPA warned in July they 
anticipated it would take until August for recalled pilots to get 
requalified. Southwest experienced notable operational disruptions in 
June and July 2021. In discussions with the Committee, Southwest 
admitted it took longer than anticipated to recall pilots from leave 
and get them requalified through flight simulator training and other 
means.

    Question 1. Given that it takes an extended period of time for a 
pilot to be retrained and requalified in the aircraft they are 
designated to fly, what were some of the reasons that these pilot 
training delays occurred?
    Answer. Recall efforts for Southwest Pilots began as soon as 
airline industry demand began to recover. Training resources were added 
as quickly as possible by initiating a recall of all Flight Instructors 
on voluntary leave, beginning the hiring process of additional Flight 
Instructors, and training additional Check Pilots.
    While a number of factors--including facilities, devices, and 
personnel--limit the amount of training that can be conducted in any 
given month, our ability to train has been particular limited by the 
supply of our Flight Instructor workgroup. Flight Instructors conduct 
the majority of classroom and simulator training. As a whole, the group 
has been near 100 percent utilization every month since the start of 
2021.
    As with employees from many work groups, Flight Instructors 
participated in the Company's voluntary separation program (``VSP'') 
and ExTO. As such, we were required to build our Flight Instructor Team 
which includes hiring and training a new group of employees. The work 
is ongoing today and we are in the process of more than doubling the 
Flight Instructor Team. The current training time from hiring to 
completion of training for a Flight Instructor is just over six months. 
In the meantime, the constraints on our Flight Instructor Team requires 
us to balance our load of other Training demands between recurrent 
training (Continuing Qualification), Flight Instructor New Hire, 
Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance (ETOPS), FAA required 
737-MAX8 Return to Service training, and Requalification for Pilots 
returning from ExTO to have available Pilots for the operation.

    Question 2. For pilots and other workgroups, what steps are you 
taking to plan for and ensure enough time to properly train current and 
new employees? How have lessons learned from the pandemic informed how 
you conduct workforce training now?
    Answer. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, SWA University 
(``SWA U'') leveraged all training modalities--classroom training, 
online learning, on-the-job training, and virtual training--to 
accomplish required training. Because regulations dictate most of our 
training requirements, we constantly monitor compliance and proficiency 
reports, partnering with our scheduling teams to prioritize training 
scheduling when opportunities are identified. The pandemic also helped 
reinforce the importance of running effective and efficient programs to 
enable Employees to be competent and confident. We continue to focus on 
leveraging all training modalities to match the evolving needs of our 
Employees.
    In Southwest's Flight Operations department, we track available 
Employee time, resources, and required training to staff for the 
training load. In addition, our recordkeeping system is frequently 
checked by the FAA to confirm the training was conducted and signed off 
properly. The FAA also attends our classes as an oversight function 
utilizing a Data Collection Tool. Lessons learned from the pandemic 
include rethinking the hiring pipeline and adding curriculum/days to 
the requalification course. These changes were very successful and 
continue to be used. Southwest's Tech Operations department, which 
includes our aviation mechanic workforce, did not defer or extend 
Training Requirements through the pandemic, so the hourly commitment to 
training did not change. Our Employees in Tech Ops maintained their 
training currency and qualifications so Southwest could continue to 
support our Customers and Flight Operations. In regard to lessons 
learned, we are now better prepared to manage the delivery of our 
training programs more effectively, as we can now deliver training 
virtually and are equipped to quickly add Instructors and/or increase 
class capacity to fulfill our training requirements, with an emphasis 
on meeting regulatory training demands first.

    Airline Cancellations and Staffing. Following the Biden 
Administration's vaccine rollout in the first quarter of 2021, consumer 
travel demand began to rebound. On January 1, 2021, less than 2 percent 
of Americans had received one vaccine dose, and on that same day, only 
805,990 travelers passed through TSA security checkpoints.
    But on March 25, 2021, when more than 30 percent of Americans had 
received at least one dose, over 1.4 million travelers passed through 
TSA checkpoints. This uptick encouraged airlines to ramp up projected 
flight schedules for summer travel.
    American was one of a few airlines that set aggressive schedules to 
capture this demand. As one aviation data analyst observed, airlines 
acted ``very bullish on domestic opportunities,'' and were ``way more 
eager to be risk tolerant than they would [have been] pre-pandemic.''
    Some airlines struggled to provide staffing required to meet the 
returning demand, however, and were forced to cancel or delay thousands 
of flights during the peak travel periods over the summer. From March 
to the end of September, for example, Southwest cancelled over 13,000 
flights. In these cases, bad weather was exacerbated by staffing 
shortages, exposing a brittle system susceptible to even minor hiccups. 
And of course, when flights are cancelled it is consumers that are the 
ultimate victims.
    Operations did get better. The airline industry, including 
Southwest, has performed much better, particularly over the 
Thanksgiving holiday period when passenger volumes reached 90 percent 
of pre-pandemic levels. TSA set COVID-era record of 2.4 million 
passengers screened on November 28, yet we didn't hear any reports of 
mass cancellations and delays, or hours-long lines.
    In fact, the airlines hit an on-time performance rate of 85 percent 
during the Thanksgiving period, the best since 2017. Southwest had only 
12 cancellations the entire Thanksgiving week.

    Question 1. In your view, did Southwest have enough staff to meet 
the return of air travel demand this year?
    Answer. Yes, we operated well into June 2021 fully staffed, as 
leisure demand ramped up quickly reaching over 90 percent load factors 
in many of our airports. We entered the summer with a strong 
operational strategy designed with appropriate summer staffing levels 
based on historical methodologies to operate our published schedule. 
For example, the ratio of crew per aircraft in service--both Pilots and 
Flight Attendants--was well within the acceptable and historical norms 
for running an on-time operation. However, like many employers in the 
travel/hospitality industries and the economy at large, lower labor 
force participation--in terms of both people leaving the workforce 
(aka, the ``Great Resignation'') and higher absenteeism/sick rates for 
current workers--and increased competition from other employers have 
collectively made it challenging to meet personnel requirements. In 
response, we are pursuing short-term strategies to meet present and 
future growth, including hiring more than 5,000 new Employees in 2021. 
We are making additional investments to attract and retain talent, 
including our recent decision to further raise our starting hourly pay 
rates to a minimum of $17 per hour (plus health, leave, and retirement 
benefits). We are currently in discussions with our workgroups to enact 
this increase in pay rates.

    Question 2. What did Southwest and the industry as a whole do 
differently that enabled travel during the Thanksgiving holiday to go 
so smoothly?
    Answer. During the Thanksgiving Holiday period, Southwest Airlines 
was able to offer reliable operational performance primarily due to the 
favorable weather conditions across the country. Additionally, our 
Incentive Program helped improve the staffing environment for Pilots, 
Flight Attendants, and Airport employees. All of this allowed our On-
Time Performance to jump to an impressive 88.3 percent while enplaning 
over 3,000,000 passengers and only cancelling 12 flights.

    Consumer Refunds. In 2020, DOT received 29,687 refund complaints 
against U.S. airlines, a 4,634 percent increase over 2019. And while 
the problem has started to get better, DOT still received 5,129 refund 
complaints in September 2021, well above the 627 filed against U.S. 
airlines for all of 2019.
    The Department of Transportation (``DOT'') has a rulemaking in the 
Unified Agenda which says that it is looking at defining what 
constitutes a ``cancellation'' and a ``significant delay''--the two 
things that entitle a customer to a refund. Currently, DOT lets 
airlines make their own determinations as to whether or not a flight is 
cancelled, and the number of hours that account for a ``significant'' 
delay.

    Question 1. In your view, how many hours does a flight have to be 
delayed before a passenger is entitled to a refund?
    Answer. Southwest distinguishes between a significant delay (which 
we view as close-in to the date of departure) and a significant 
schedule change (which we consider to be an itinerary change that is at 
least 3 days prior to departure). Southwest applies a common sense, 
pro-consumer approach in each scenario.
    Like DOT, Southwest evaluates the significance of each delay or 
schedule change on a case-by-case basis to determine whether to make a 
cash refund available in addition to the option to rebook or receive 
travel funds. This gives our Employees flexibility to exercise good 
judgment and do right by our Customers. Our goal is to be flexible and 
responsive insofar as the Customer Service we provide.
    In the future, Southwest may revise our Contract of Carriage to 
define these terms. However, as DOT has recognized, each situation is 
unique, and it can be advantageous to the Customer to not have specific 
definitions.

    Question 2. If the reluctance to issue refunds was just an issue of 
preserving cash on hand, then why were refund complaints still so high 
in 2021?
    Answer. Southwest Airlines was not reluctant to issue refunds to 
Customers who qualified for refunds. Of the $3.4 billion in flight 
credits that were originally issued or extended following the onset of 
the COVID-19 pandemic, as of September 30, 2021, only $1.4 billion in 
Customer flight credits remain available to redeem for future travel, 
with a September 7, 2022, expiration date. Customers continued to 
redeem flight credits throughout fourth quarter 2021 and continue to do 
so into 2022.
    Southwest has previously and will continue to comply with all 
regulatory refund requirements as defined by the DOT Aviation Consumer 
Protection guidelines or implementing rule 14 CFR Part 374. Southwest 
has not changed its refund policies in recent years, other than to 
extend the expiration date for unused flight credits during the 
pandemic.
    The majority of refund complaints are from Customers who purchased 
non-refundable itineraries that the Customers chose to not utilize 
(i.e., the airline operated the flight and the Customers made the 
decision to not travel) who were given flight credits but not cash 
refunds. Southwest does not control when or how often a Customer files 
a DOT complaint. Customers may still file a complaint when the Company 
has operated and acted in accordance with DOT guidelines. That said, 
Southwest has had the lowest ratio of Refund Complaints per 100,000 
enplaned passengers out of all the other Marketing Carriers in 2020 and 
2021.
                                 ______
                                 
 Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Richard Blumenthal to 
                             Gary C. Kelly
    Compensation for Consumers. Since March 2020, flight delays and 
cancellations have disrupted plans for countless travelers--and the 
most recent cancellations left people stranded in airports and away 
from family during the winter holiday season. Senator Markey and I have 
repeatedly called for full cash refunds for impacted consumers. But 
U.S. airlines have been slow to provide credits and legally-required 
refunds and have hidden behind vague ticketing policies. Media reports 
indicate that airlines are currently holding approximately $20 billion 
worth of travel vouchers and unrefunded ticket values.

    Question 1. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that Southwest Airlines currently owes consumers? Please provide the 
amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. Southwest Airlines does not have any unfulfilled refund 
requests that fall outside of the parameters defined by the Department 
of Transportation Aviation Consumer Protection guidelines or 
implementing rule 14 CFR Part 374.
    Of the $3.4 billion in flight credits that were originally issued 
or extended following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as of 
September 30, 2021, only $1.4 billion in Customer flight credits remain 
available to redeem for future travel, with a September 7, 2022, 
expiration date. Customers continued to redeem flight credits 
throughout fourth quarter 2021 and continue to do so into 2022.
    In summer 2020, in order to provide additional flexibility to 
Customers who hold unredeemed flight credits, the Company significantly 
relaxed its pre-COVID-19 policies with regard to the time period within 
which these flight credits can be redeemed, which is typically twelve 
months from the original date of purchase. Specifically, for all 
Customer flight credits (1) that expired between March 1, 2020 and 
September 7, 2020, and (2) were created because the Customer cancelled 
a flight between March 1 and September 7, 2020, the Company extended 
the expiration date to September 7, 2022--an extension of at least two 
years.

    Question 2. Does Southwest Airlines gain revenue (such as from 
interest) from the value of unused travel vouchers that are currently 
held in company accounts? If so, how much revenue has Southwest 
Airlines collected from the funds in your accounts that are linked to 
unused travel vouchers since March 2020?
    Answer. No, Southwest Airlines does not gain revenue (such as from 
interest) from the value of unused travel vouchers or Customer flight 
credits. Southwest does not hold vouchers or flight credits in any 
interest bearing account. To be clear, Southwest does earn interest on 
the cash that Customers have provided to the Company for travel 
bookings.
    Southwest invests cash on hand primarily in short-term U.S. 
government obligations and government focused money market funds (which 
invest in U.S. government obligations). Per the most recent public SEC 
filing, the Company's interest income on its investment balances was 
minimal.

    Question 3. If Southwest Airlines still owes consumers under 
Question 1, by when will it have completed issuing its refunds? What is 
the reason for this delay?
    Answer. Southwest Airlines does not have any unfulfilled refund 
requests that fall outside of the parameters defined by the Department 
of Transportation Aviation Consumer Protection guidelines or 
implementing rule 14 CFR Part 374.

    Question 4. Southwest Airlines reportedly cancelled more than 100 
flights in the last week. How many consumers were impacted by these 
cancellations?
    Answer. Of the roughly 22,500 flights scheduled to operate from 
December 19-25, 2021, only 110 flights (or 0.0049 percent of Southwest 
flights) were canceled--primarily due to winter weather. These 
cancellations impacted approximately 0.47 percent of our Customers 
traveling that week.
    Southwest completed over 98 percent of our scheduled service from 
December 23-29, 2021, and we completed over 88 percent of our scheduled 
service from December 30, 2021, through January 5, 2022.
    For the Customers who were affected by bad weather-related flight 
disruptions, Southwest offered rebooking at no cost, vouchers to offset 
incidental travel expenses, and refunds upon request for any unused 
portions of itineraries.

    Question 5. Will Southwest Airlines commit to providing full cash 
refunds to all impacted consumers? If not, explain why not and what 
compensation you will issue to consumers.
    Answer. Southwest Airlines has previously and will continue to 
comply with all regulatory refund requirements as defined by the 
Department of Transportation Aviation Consumer Protection guidelines or 
implementing rule 14 CFR Part 374.
    For Customers impacted by Southwest Airlines-initiated flight 
cancellations, Southwest works with each Customer to book alternate 
flights or issue a flight credit for the value of the fare paid for 
unused travel. We also provide a refund to the original form(s) of 
payment upon the Customer's request if they choose not to be rebooked, 
were unable to travel, or did not choose a flight credit. Gift card 
holders are provided a flight credit.

    Question 6. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that Southwest Airlines owe consumers for these cancellations? Please 
provide the amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. For Customers impacted by Southwest Airlines-initiated 
flight cancellations, Southwest works with each Customer to book 
alternate flights or issue a flight credit for the value of the fare 
paid for unused travel. We also provide a refund to the original 
form(s) of payment upon the Customer's request if they choose not to be 
rebooked, were unable to travel or did not choose a flight credit. Gift 
card holders are provided a flight credit.
    Southwest has previously and will continue to comply with all 
regulatory refund requirements as defined by the Department of 
Transportation Aviation Consumer Protection guidelines or implementing 
rule 14 CFR Part 374.

    Question 7. By when does Southwest Airlines plan to have fully 
reimbursed consumers?
    Answer. Southwest Airlines is well within the Department of 
Transportation defined guidelines for issuing Customer refunds, and the 
Company will continue to comply with all regulatory refund requirements 
as defined by the Department of Transportation Aviation Consumer 
Protection guidelines or implementing rule 14 CFR Part 374.
    For Customers impacted by Southwest Airlines-initiated flight 
cancellations, Southwest works with each Customer to book alternate 
flights or issue a flight credit for the value of the fare paid for 
unused travel. We also provide a refund to the original form(s) of 
payment upon the Customer's request if they choose not to be rebooked, 
were unable to travel, or did not choose a flight credit. Gift card 
holders are provided a flight credit.

    Question 8. Please explain the causes of the recent flight 
cancellations as well as the steps that Southwest Airlines is 
implementing to prevent a repeat of these cancellations.
    Answer. The winter storms before Christmas through the end of the 
calendar year caused significant operational challenges at several 
commercial airports and thus our entire network. Thankfully, the 
weather-related challenges were not long-lived nor did they cause 
extended service outages. That said, we have had to work around some 
recurring bad weather patterns after New Year's Eve/Day.
    On top of the winter weather, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic 
on Employee retention, recruitment, and absenteeism remain incredibly 
challenging. Southwest's priority throughout the pandemic has been to 
staff all areas of our operation appropriately. Since the surge in 
Customer demand beginning in the summer of 2021, our People Department 
has aggressively hired new Employees, with over 5,000 new hires in 2021 
and a goal of another 8,000 Employees in 2022. We have worked to 
improve our hiring process, as well as shorten the time it takes to 
clear background. We also raised our minimum pay to $15/hour, began 
offering Employee referral bonuses, and are holding hiring events 
across the country.
    Southwest is not immune to ``The Great Resignation'' and the 
resulting nationwide labor shortages. Our Operational Teams partnered 
with our Network Planning Department to rein in our capacity plans so 
they mirror our current staffing environment, specifically reducing the 
peak days in our flight schedule for November and December 2021.
    On top of winter weather and pandemic-related challenges, the 
potential disruptions caused by the Federal government's failure to 
approve the rollout of 5G in the C-band frequency in a way that does 
not cause aviation safety concerns or result in flight restrictions at 
airports could make an extremely challenging operating environment all 
the more difficult.

    Question 9. Does Southwest Airlines maintain interline agreements 
with other carriers to allow passengers affected by disruptions an 
alternate means of getting to their destinations? If not, why not?
    Answer. Southwest has long had resources and policies in place to 
minimize the inconvenience to our Customers when significant 
disruptions occur. This includes reaccommodating a Customer on another 
flight, issuing flight credits, or refunding the unused portion of the 
ticket. We also empower our Employees to make decisions to deploy these 
tools based on their best judgment to minimize inconveniences to 
Customers. As a general rule, for passengers affected by controllable 
disruptions, Southwest may purchase travel on other carriers when 
passengers are not scheduled to arrive within 24 hours and no 
availability exists on our flights.
    Even when disruptions impact our On-Time Performance (OTP), lower 
OTP does not necessarily translate into higher numbers of displaced 
Customers and therefore a lower completion factor. It only means 
flights ran late so Customers could still get to their intended 
destinations. The table below provides data to that effect, using the 
last week of December as an illustrative example:
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Brian Schatz to 
                             Gary C. Kelly
    Mandatory Public Service Videos. The Hawaiian Tourism Authority has 
made available public service videos to educate the public about being 
respectful tourists when they visit Hawaii.

    Question 1. In what ways are these videos made available to Hawaii-
bound travelers on your aircraft?
    Answer. At Senator Schatz's request and in support of the Hawaii 
Tourism Authority (HTA), Southwest includes these HTA videos in pre-
trip e-mails sent to our Hawaii-bound Customers. We periodically review 
and update the content of these e-mails as we strive to provide concise 
and manageable pre-trip messages, particularly given the need to 
communicate Hawaii-related restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Question 2. Is one or more of these videos mandatory in some form 
for in-bound Hawaii travelers using in-flight entertainment?
    Answer. The HTA videos are included among our inflight 
entertainment options (i.e., movies, on-demand TV shows, and live TV), 
which are completely free to Customers. Customers are able to view 
these entertainment options at their discretion using their personal 
devices and headphones. Therefore, use of the in-flight entertainment 
system is entirely voluntary.

    Question 3. If not, what hardware, software, or policy barriers 
prevent the videos from being made mandatory?
    Answer. Southwest provides free in-flight entertainment to all 
Customers via their devices. We choose not to include seat-back screens 
on any of our aircraft because they add weight (which creates 
additional fuel burn and emissions), increase costs (which are then 
passed on to Customers), and add complexity to aircraft maintenance. 
Without seat-back screens, we cannot show mandatory videos. Also, our 
aircraft that serve the Hawaiian Islands (including our interisland 
service) are not limited to Hawaii flights. These aircraft operate 
throughout our national and international network, and the in-flight 
entertainment system cannot be adjusted based on the route that a 
particular aircraft is serving on a particular date.

    Question 4. Will you commit to making these videos mandatory for 
all Hawaii-bound travelers using in-flight entertainment within the 
next six months?
    Answer. We will continue to share these videos via our pre-trip e-
mails to our Hawaii-bound Customers. Our in-flight entertainment system 
is accessed voluntarily and therefore does not support mandatory 
videos.

    Minimum Seat Size. The 2018 FAA reauthorization directed the agency 
to establish minimum seat sizes. There was an acknowledgement at the 
time that tighter seats and cramped quarters were causing conflicts 
between passengers and a potential safety hazard if there was an 
emergency. That seems even more important today. Most of the airline 
industry opposed the measure and the last administration failed to 
advance the rulemaking.

    Question 1. Do you oppose minimum seat size standards? Do you 
believe the FAA should finalize regulations on minimum seat dimensions?
    Answer. Southwest Airlines does not oppose Federal minimum seat 
size standards, provided they are based solely on passenger safety (as 
the statute prescribes) and rely completely on objective scientific and 
data-based reviews and analyses. With that said, we do not believe any 
seating configuration among the U.S. airlines is unsafe. For Southwest, 
our average seat pitch and widest seat width have actually increased 
with our newer planes (i.e., the Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX-8) as our 
older planes (i.e., the 737-700) are being gradually retired and 
replaced through our fleet modernization program.
                                 ______
                                 
  Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Raphael Warnock to 
                             Gary C. Kelly
    Crew Safety. The Payroll Support Program has been a critical tool 
for protecting airline workers' jobs throughout the pandemic. Most of 
the airlines testified to the various policies and programs they have 
implemented to help protect passengers and prevent further spread of 
the coronavirus. However testimony was also given about the terrible 
harassment and violent abuse airline crew members have faced at an 
alarming rate since the beginning of the pandemic. The Federal Aviation 
Administration and Department of Justice, under the Biden 
Administration have stepped up enforcement and prosecution efforts 
related to unruly passengers.

    Question 1. What is your airline doing to protect your employees' 
physical health and wellbeing--not just against COVID-19, but unruly 
passengers, as well?
    Answer. As of December 2021, 93 percent of Southwest Airlines 
Employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 or have been granted an 
accommodation. We appreciate that our Employees have taken this action 
to support the comfort and well-being of Customers and fellow Employees 
during the ongoing pandemic. This development does not change the fact 
that we continue to encourage all Employees who are able to get 
vaccinated against COVID-19, including getting a booster vaccination.
    In May 2020, Southwest initiated the Southwest Promise--a series of 
measures to protect the physical health and well-being of our Employees 
and Customers. As part of the Southwest Promise, we have employed 
stringent cleaning practices, such as using electrostatic and anti-
microbial spray treatments in the aircraft cabin; daily cleanings of 
the ticket counters, gate hold rooms, and baggage claim areas; and 
providing masks and hand sanitizer in airport common areas and 
disinfecting wipes in the cabin. As always, Southwest will remain 
focused on creating a safe environment for all who travel with us or 
come to work--Employees and Customers alike.
    With respect to unruly passengers, we protect our Employees in 
several ways. When passengers threaten or assault our Employees, we can 
ban those passengers from future travel on Southwest. In addition to 
summoning law enforcement to respond, we support the arrest and 
prosecution of those passengers. In fact, Southwest led the airline 
industry's effort to seek greater DOJ involvement in holding unruly 
passengers accountable for physical assaults against airline Employees. 
Finally, we encourage our Employees to cooperate fully with law 
enforcement officers and the judicial system, giving them paid time off 
to do so.

    Voluntary Separation Programs & Rebuilding the Workforce. The 
Payroll Support Program was able to keep hundreds of thousands of hard-
working Americans--including many Georgians--on the job throughout the 
pandemic. However, no one Federal program could make up for all the 
losses or solve all the challenges inflicted upon the airline industry 
by the pandemic. And airlines had to adjust. As a result, we saw the 
airline workforce reduced significantly--mostly through voluntary 
separation and early retirement packages offered by airlines.

    Question 1. Could you expound on the need for these programs and 
how you worked with your employees to implement them?
    Answer. Southwest Airlines introduced voluntary extended time off 
(ExTO) and a voluntary separation program (VSP) in July 2020 with the 
goal of aligning staffing to the reduced flight schedules we had that 
year and in early 2021. Approximately 15,000 Employees--representing 
almost 25 percent of our workforce--volunteered and were approved for 
participation in these two programs based on careful consideration of 
the facts and forecasts that were available at that time, given the 
unpredictable nature of a once-in-a-century global pandemic. When 
making those staffing decisions, we also closely assessed our current 
and future operational needs, optimal staffing levels by work group, 
and the regional distribution to provide a balanced operation. Over 
4,200 Employees initially elected to participate in VSP and left the 
Company, while roughly 11,000 Employees took varying lengths of ExTO. 
We have since recalled those Employees on ExTO, in many cases far 
earlier than they had planned on returning to work full time.

    Question 2. How did these programs allow you to invest in and 
support your employees?
    Answer. Under ExTO, we provided Employees with partial income and 
full health care and other benefits. Under VSP, we provided generous 
separation packages, including health care and other benefits. 
Southwest Airlines is known for its commitment to its Employees, and we 
have proudly maintained our 50-year history of no involuntary 
furloughs, layoffs, or pay cuts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We 
would not have maintained our proud tradition without the Payroll 
Support Program, and Southwest remains deeply grateful for that 
critical support during our darkest hour as a Company.
    Because we are mindful of the impact working through this pandemic 
has had on our People, Southwest launched various Holiday Incentive 
Programs for our Customer-facing workgroups to reward those frontline 
Employees for their continued hard work in a challenging operating 
environment. Our Employees are Southwest Airlines' greatest asset. 
Their resilience and resolve have been nothing short of inspirational 
during this critical and unpredictable time for our Company, so we do 
all we can to invest in them and support them as they do the work of 
serving our Customers.

    Question 3. As air traffic has begun to bounce back, what are your 
plans for rehiring and rebuilding your workforce?
    Answer. In 2021, Southwest reached our goal of hiring approximately 
5,000 new Employees. For context, we hired a little over 5,200 People 
for the entire year in 2019, and that was our last year of full hiring 
pre-pandemic. We worked to improve our hiring process, raised our 
minimum pay to $15/hour, began offering Employee referral bonuses, and 
held hiring events across the country. In 2022, we plan to add at least 
8,000 new Employees.
    If accomplished, our workforce should exceed 2019 employment levels 
by the end of 2022.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Roger Wicker to 
                             Gary C. Kelly
    Question. One condition of the Payroll Support Program was that 
recipients of the funds were required to continue air service to the 
communities they previously served, unless a waiver was received from 
the Secretary of Transportation. However, with the expiration of PSP 
and passenger travel on the rebound airlines are beginning to make 
adjustments to their service routes, and there are concerns smaller 
communities will bear a brunt of the cuts. According to a recent news 
article, Delta Air Lines intends to cut service to seven routes to 
three small communities. United Airlines announced last month they will 
be pulling out of eleven small communities, all serviced by regional 
airline partners.
    Several airlines have announced cuts in service to small 
communities in the last month or so. As I am sure you are aware, small 
communities rely on their air service to connect them to the rest of 
the country. In light of recent service cuts to small communities can 
you assure us that air service to small and rural communities will 
remain at or above pre-COVID levels once your networks return to those 
same levels?
    Answer. The Payroll Support Program enabled Southwest Airlines to 
avoid involuntary layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts and to maintain 
service. In fact, as passenger numbers declined during the pandemic, 
Southwest not only did not exit any of our U.S. airports, we expanded 
our domestic network to 18 additional airports, including Jackson, 
Mississippi (JAN); Bozeman, Montana (BZN); and Bellingham, Washington 
(BLI). This expansion allowed us to bring Southwest's low fares and 
Hospitality to more communities (including many smaller communities) 
and Customers, and it provided needed work for our Employees while 
putting idle aircraft to use. We cannot guarantee the permanent 
continuation of service to any airport, as we respond to changes in 
Customer demand and costs. However, we are committed to the communities 
served by Southwest, and we take great pride in working hard to 
continue bringing our service to all such communities.
                                 ______
                                 
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Shelley Moore Capito to 

                             Gary C. Kelly
    Question 1. Based on today's testimonies, domestic commercial 
aviation is on the rebound. According to the TSA, just under 21 million 
travelers were screened during the 10-day Thanksgiving holiday. That is 
near the 2019 record of 26 million travelers for the same period. Do 
you anticipate passenger travel to be at or near 2019 levels for the 
Christmas season?
    Answer. While demand trends have been choppy in this environment, 
Southwest has observed a fairly strong return of leisure travel demand 
in 2021. On January 27, 2022, we reported our Q4 2021 financial 
performance, including the results of passenger travel demand during 
the holiday season. During calendar year 2021, Southwest carried over 
99 million revenue passengers, which is an 83 percent increase from 
2020, during which we carried 54 million revenue passengers. While we 
made significant progress in 2021, the Omicron variant has delayed the 
demand improvement we were previously expecting in early 2022. With 
COVID-19 cases trending downward, we are optimistic about trends 
beginning in March 2022.
    For industrywide context, the Transportation Security 
Administration (TSA) has reported checkpoint throughput for the month 
of December 2021. Passenger throughput numbers in December 2021 were 
83.7 percent of December 2019 levels, but more than double the numbers 
from December 2020.
    TSA checkpoint monthly travel numbers:

   58,863,955 (Dec. 2021)

   26,417,472 (Dec. 2020)

   70,250,692 (Dec. 2019)

    Question 2. Have you seen an increase in airfare over the past 
couple months? If so, what do you contribute for this increase?
    Answer. Southwest is proud to be the leading low-cost carrier in 
the United States. Our average airfare for the fourth quarter 2021 was 
in-line with our average airfare in fourth quarter 2019 in terms of 
nominal dollars (slightly lower in constant or real dollars). We fight 
hard to keep fares low and competitive for our Customers. Notably, our 
base fare includes two free checked bags (weight and size limits apply) 
and no change or cancellation fees. We regularly offer sales with fares 
as low as $49 on many routes, as well as a fare sale in January with 
fares as low as $39 one-way. As one would expect, Southwest's average 
passenger fares have fluctuated with demand during the COVID-19 
pandemic.
    For context, the airline industry is highly competitive. According 
to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation 
Statistics (BTS), average airfares have been at an all-time low in 
recent years, including the year immediately preceding the COVID-19 
pandemic.

    Question 3. In 2018, Congress passed a bipartisan five-year 
reauthorization of the FAA. In the near future, Congress will have to 
consider and debate policy in order to reauthorize the FAA before 2023. 
An important component of the reauthorization will be the FAA's Next 
Generation Transportation System (NextGen) initiative and its 
deployment. The success of this initiative is entirely dependent on how 
quickly the FAA and aircraft operations can fully implement NextGen. 
Could you each discuss some of the investments your airlines have made 
in implementing NextGen?
    Answer. Years ahead of any mandate, Southwest Airlines invested 
roughly $175 million to fully equip our entire fleet to be compatible 
with core NextGen technologies and to train all Southwest Pilots to 
utilize NextGen procedures. Our investments make Southwest NextGen-
ready, including with Required Navigation Performance (RNP) 
capabilities, DataComm retrofits, and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-
Broadcast (ADS-B) equipage. We made these early investments in good 
faith, relying on the FAA's then-assurance that the best-equipped 
aircraft for NextGen would be best-served by the Air Traffic Control 
system. Put simply, we were told if we invested to equip our aircraft 
in NextGen capabilities, we would be able to take advantage of more 
energy-efficient, modernized flight operations, such as performance-
based navigation (PBN) approaches to airports. The government has not 
lived up to its side of the equation in this regard, even at airports 
where PBN procedures have been published but not fully utilized despite 
the environmental benefits associated with PBN.

    Question 4. In your opinion, what are some of the current barriers 
to NextGen implementation?
    Answer. In March 2021, the DOT Inspector General found that 
``NextGen's actual and projected benefits have not kept pace with 
initial projections due to implementation challenges, optimistic 
assumptions, and other factors'' and that ``benefits actually achieved 
to date have been minimal and difficult to measure.'' Southwest agrees 
with this assessment. While it is difficult to provide a concise 
summary of the current barriers to NextGen implementation, we do have a 
few suggestions. First, there should be a dedicated Performance Based 
Navigation (PBN) Program Office at the FAA to oversee the program 
elements such as procedure design, community outreach, and the suite of 
controller ``tools'' that enable the management and sequencing of 
aircraft. Second, the FAA should prioritize PBN projects that lead to 
significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and energy 
consumption. Third, Congress should dedicate robust funding for the PBN 
Office and direction that safety and reducing emissions should be the 
PBN Office's guiding priorities for its future work.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Jerry Moran to 
                             Gary C. Kelly
    Question. As you continue working to restore and rebuild your 
network and schedule to pre-pandemic levels, can you comment on the 
role the 737 MAX will play in your efforts?
    Answer. Rebuilding our network is a priority for Southwest. As you 
know, Southwest operates the largest all-Boeing/all-737 fleet in the 
world, and we have been committed to the 737 throughout our 51-year 
history. Southwest recognizes and appreciates the tremendous aerospace 
workforce in Kansas and across our country, which builds and 
contributes components to the 737 MAX. Southwest currently has 69 737 
MAX8's in our fleet. As explained in our Q4 2021 quarterly earnings 
report, Southwest's current order book with Boeing contains 406 MAX 
firm orders (271 MAX-7's and 135 MAX-8's) and 226 MAX options (-7 or -
8) for years 2022 through 2031.As you can see, Southwest remains 
committed to the Boeing 737, and the 737 MAX will play an important 
role in the restoration of our network and schedule, not to mention the 
significant environmental and noise reduction benefits associated with 
the MAX aircraft.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Rick Scott to 
                             Gary C. Kelly
    Question 1. Last year, the American taxpayers bailed out the 
airline industry with nearly $54 billion in tax dollars, while many 
small and medium-sized businesses closed their doors for good. Your 
company entered an agreements with the U.S. Treasury with the promise 
of return on the taxpayers' investment. Can you provide an update on 
what kind of return on investment the American taxpayers can expect?
    Answer. One-hundred percent of the assistance provided by the 
Payroll Support Program (PSP) went to the salaries, wages, and benefits 
of our Employees--including thousands of Florida-based Southwest 
Employees. Our country enjoyed a return on this investment in that we 
still have an airline industry that is able to connect people to what's 
important in their lives, including the approximately 114 million 
people who traveled on airlines to and from Florida in the most recent 
12-month period for which data are available. Southwest was able to 
grow our route map, including new service to airports in Florida, such 
as Miami International Airport (MIA), Sarasota Bradenton International 
Airport (SRQ), and Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (VPS). The 
expansion of our route map to these new Florida destinations would not 
have occurred without the ability to keep our Employees on the payroll 
during the pandemic. The PSP also enabled us to maintain service to all 
the Florida communities Southwest served prior to the pandemic: Ft. 
Lauderdale (FLL), Ft. Myers/Naples (RSW), Jacksonville (JAX), Orlando 
(MCO), Panama City Beach (ECP), Pensacola (PNS), Tampa (TPA), and West 
Palm Beach (PBI). Notably, approximately 30 percent of the payroll 
support provided was in the form of loans, which the industry must 
repay. In addition to direct benefits to the U.S. economy by keeping 
airplanes flying and Employees on the payroll, secondary benefits 
included increased Federal and state tax revenue, reduced unemployment 
payments, additional consumer spending (e.g., tourist dollars flowing 
into the Florida economy), and economic benefits related to incremental 
airline passenger and cargo capacity.

    Question 2. It has been reported that both United and American have 
entered agreements to sell planes to the Bank of China Aviation, which 
is a state-owned bank, and lease them back to their companies long-
term. Does Southwest also participate in this practice?
    Answer. Southwest owns the vast majority of the aircraft in our 
fleet of over 700 aircraft, and our preferred approach remains buying 
our aircraft directly from Boeing. Sale-leaseback transactions can 
provide needed capital, and Southwest occasionally enters into such 
arrangements with various aircraft lessors, consistent with applicable 
U.S. law and state laws. Leasing aircraft can provide added flexibility 
in our fleet strategy, as well. Such leases provide quiet enjoyment 
provisions that prevent the owners of the leases from taking aircraft 
from Southwest, unless we are in default. We have no obligation to any 
entity other than to make our payments and perform our normal duties 
under such leases.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Ron Johnson to 
                             Gary C. Kelly
    Question 1. On what basis are you mandating the vaccine for your 
employees? Is it only because of the Federal contractor mandate or is 
it also due to a company decision?
    Answer. The purpose of Southwest's COVID-19 Vaccine Policy is to 
comply with Executive Order 14042, which requires Employees of Federal 
contractors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This policy was 
not based on a Company decision. Exemptions are allowed and are granted 
as required by applicable law. Employees with a disability, medical 
condition, or sincerely held religious belief that prohibits 
vaccination against COVID-19 are strongly encouraged to request an 
accommodation. Please note that, so long as the Federal government is 
not enforcing the vaccine mandate for Federal contractors, we will not 
either; instead, we continue to encourage our Employees to vaccinate or 
seek accommodations.

    Question 2. What data are you keeping related to infections of 
COVID-19 and reactions to vaccines among your employees and passengers?
    Answer. When an Employee reports a COVID-19 infection, we note that 
information and provide them with needed support. Questions related to 
vaccine reactions can be best answered by the Food and Drug 
Administration, which has managed the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting 
System (VAERS) since 1990. We do not maintain a database of COVID-19 
health information related to our Customers.

    Question 3. How many employees have had COVID-19?
    Answer. We do not plan to share information related to our 
Employees' health externally.

    Question 4. How many were hospitalized?
    Answer. We do not plan to share information related to our 
Employees' health externally.

    Question 5. How many died?
    Answer. We do not plan to share information related to our 
Employees' health externally.

    Question 6. How many were vaccinated versus unvaccinated?
    Answer. We do not plan to share information related to our 
Employees' health externally.

    Question 7. How many fully vaccinated employees have had a 
breakthrough case of COVID-19?
    Answer. We do not plan to share information related to our 
Employees' health externally.

    Question 8. Have there been any COVID-19 outbreaks that were traced 
to a commercial flight? If so, how many?
    Answer. A multi-layered approach helps to provide for our 
Customers' comfort and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. We 
equip all our aircraft with a sophisticated air distribution system 
that introduces fresh, outdoor air and HEPA (High Efficiency 
Particulate Air) filtered air into the cabin. HEPA filters onboard 
remove at least 99.7 percent (measuring 0.3 micrometers or greater in 
diameter passing through the filter) of airborne particles. HEPA 
filters are also used in hospitals. We have employed stringent cleaning 
practices such as using electrostatic and anti-microbial spray 
treatments in the cabin. Our Employees wear masks, and Customers are 
also required to wear masks due to the Transportation Security 
Administration's (TSA) mask requirements. As you know, with the 
prevalence of infections, it is difficult to trace a specific COVID-19 
case or ``outbreak'' to a particular point of transmission. We continue 
to evaluate our policies and procedures based on public health 
guidance, scientific research, and advice from medical and aviation 
organizations, such as: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 
IATA, Boeing, and our own medical professionals and infectious disease 
experts that we've retained to advise us during the pandemic.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to 
                             Gary C. Kelly
    Question 1. There are a lot of challenges that continue to face the 
airline industry, whether it's decreased passenger ridership, workforce 
related challenges, or continued emergence of COVID variants. Can you 
elaborate and share with the Committee what you think the airline 
industry needs in order to operate successfully during these 
challenging times, and what can Congress do to help the airline 
industry return to pre-pandemic operational levels? Do you ever see the 
airline industry returning to how it used to operate before the 
pandemic?
    Answer. Airlines and the aviation industry are deeply affected by 
broad economic conditions. Air carriers face cost pressures associated 
with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other economic factors, 
such as fuel and labor costs, as well as a reduction in revenue due to 
lower consumer demand for air travel, especially from business 
travelers. A period of economic stability and growth would help the 
industry to regain its footing and to reduce the impact of self-help 
measures (i.e., debt) that the industry took on during the pandemic. In 
general, Congress can assist with our industry's recovery by 
implementing policies that will enable post-pandemic economic recovery. 
For airlines, unnecessary and burdensome new regulations would drive-up 
costs. Increased taxes or fees on passengers will discourage a return 
to travel. Most recently, on top of the pandemic-related challenges, 
the potential disruptions caused by the Federal government's failure to 
approve the rollout of 5G in the C-band frequency in a way that does 
not cause aviation safety concerns or result in flight restrictions at 
airports could make an extremely challenging operating and revenue 
environment all the more difficult. However, it is important to 
continue to keep in mind how much worse shape the airline industry 
would be if the Payroll Support Program (PSP) had not been enacted. So 
we remain ever so grateful for the support our Employees received from 
Congress via three tranches of PSP assistance. The question now is how 
much time will be required to rebuild and restore the industry to pre-
pandemic levels.

    Question 2. Ms. Nelson mentioned in her testimony that not all 
aircrafts are equipped with high efficiency particulate (HEPA) filters 
used to create a safe traveling environment in airplane cabins. Can you 
provide the Committee which aircrafts in your fleet currently have 
these HEPA filters installed and which aircrafts do not? For those 
aircrafts that do not have these HEPA filters currently in place, what 
plans, if any, are there to ensure smaller, regional aircrafts have 
these safety measures installed?
    Answer. We operate an all-737 fleet, and we equip all our aircraft 
with a sophisticated air distribution system that introduces fresh, 
outdoor air and HEPA filtered air into the cabin. HEPA filters onboard 
remove at least 99.7 percent (measuring 0.3 micrometers or greater in 
diameter passing through the filter) of airborne particles.

    Question 3. I would agree with all the airlines executive witnesses 
that some of the success stories from the earlier CARES act packages 
are the investments Congress made in programs like the Payroll Support 
Program (PSP) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help sectors 
like the airline industry sustain during the pandemic. I have spoken 
with many of you throughout the pandemic and leading up to today's 
hearing. And an interesting observation I have noticed that has emerged 
from the pandemic is a general shift in how employees view work 
nowadays and the reluctance to return to the workplace. Can the 
airlines offer the Committee your thoughts on this and the challenges 
you have experienced in addressing this mentality shift in terms of 
incentivizing and encouraging employees to return to work?
    Answer. Southwest is known as one of the best places to work, and 
yet we have faced unprecedented hurdles in our efforts to hire and 
retain Employees in 2020 and 2021. There are numerous reasons for this 
phenomenon, many of which are not unique to the airline industry. As I 
explained in my written response to the Committee's inquiry in August, 
we have introduced financial incentives (e.g., paying time-and-a-half 
or double pay) to address Employee absenteeism. Concerning staffing, 
our People Department has aggressively hired new Employees, with over 
5,000 new hires in 2021 and a goal of another 8,000 Employees in 2022. 
We have worked to improve our hiring process, as well as shorten the 
time it takes to clear background. We also raised our minimum pay, 
began offering Employee referral bonuses, and are holding hiring events 
across the country. The higher wage rates represent increases for new 
hires and other entry-level Employees at call centers and within our 
airport operations. The higher wage scales will be in addition to 
industry-leading health and retirement benefits.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Payroll Support Program Impact. Congress created the Payroll 
Support Program to protect the airline industry's workforce, support 
the continuity of safe and essential travel, and ensure the industry's 
ability to remain viable to meet future consumer travel demand. The 
Department of the Treasury disbursed a total of $54 billion to 
passenger airlines, across three rounds of PSP, to provide critical 
relief during the pandemic.
    We know that PSP made a difference in December 2020, when Congress 
extended the program, because airline recipients had to recall 
thousands of employees who were furloughed after September 30, 2020 
when the first round of PSP ended.
    According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), between 
October 2020 and February 2021, major airlines hired or brought back 
28,179 workers. These workers came back just in time for the air travel 
rebound, which took off in March 2021. As of September 2021, airlines 
were approximately 8.8 percent below their pre-pandemic employment 
levels according to BTS data. I am interested in learning from your 
airline on how the Payroll Support Program impacted your workforce and 
operations. Mr. Kirby, United received $10.9 billion in PSP funds.

    Question 1. If not for PSP funding, what do you think the status of 
your workforce would look like today? Would your airline have been able 
to survive the pandemic, absent PSP funding?
    Answer. The COVID-19 pandemic is the most disruptive global crisis 
in the history of commercial aviation. In addition to the devastating 
human toll, at the beginning of April 2020, we saw the sharpest, 
deepest drop in market demand on record. We cut our domestic and 
international schedules by 90 percent and were burning as much as $100 
million per day.
    United Airlines would be in a very different position today had 
Congress not passed the Payroll Support Program and refunded the 
program twice. United took several self-help actions to reduce the 
significant losses, including reducing flying, voluntary pay cuts for 
executive and management staff, raising private funding, and other 
efforts to reduce our costs. Without funding from the PSP, we would 
likely have needed to both suspend flying for a period as well as 
involuntarily furlough a significant number of employees, having 
devastating personal and economic consequences of our workforce. PSP 
funding allowed us to maintain our workforce, pay employees, ensure 
employees' training remained current and they were able to meet travel 
demand once travelers returned to the skies. Additionally, it allowed 
us to move critical medical supplies and personnel during the most 
challenging days of the pandemic when we may otherwise have needed to 
suspend flying to survive. While United would have survived the 
pandemic without PSP funds, it would have been significantly less able 
to meet travel demand, connect people and cargo to communities across 
the globe.

    Question 2. Since receiving PSP funding, do you believe your 
airline is in a good position to meet current consumer travel demand?
    Answer. Yes. Thanks to the support of the PSP program, as well as 
our own self-help measures, United is well positioned to meet today's 
travel demand. PSP, as well as the many self-help steps United has 
taken, have positioned us to serve travelers through growth in demand.

    Airline Relationships with Labor. Congress focused on sustaining 
the airline workforce and ensuring continuity of operations during a 
time of intense uncertainty.
    From information shared with the Committee, it appears that those 
airlines and unions that worked together found solutions to COVID-19 
challenges, from addressing new health risks in the workplace to 
ensuring currency and qualification of a highly-skilled workforce.

    Question. How has your airline collaborated with unions to 
establish policies to meet workforce needs in response to the COVID-19 
pandemic? How did your airline's relationship with relevant labor 
unions enhance your ability to meet operational needs and the rise in 
air travel demand?
    Answer. We coordinated closely with our unions, who stepped up to 
work on creative agreements to get us through the crisis, reduce the 
number of affected employees where possible, and set up the airline for 
a strong rebound. United worked with our union partners on the many 
challenges of the pandemic, including day-to-day operational 
challenges, such as cleaning aircraft, modifying service and crew 
travel issues into international markets. Additionally, United worked 
closely with our pilots' union to reach a unique agreement in the 
summer of 2020 which prevented any involuntary furloughs of our pilots 
once PSP expired, including during the 3 months in the fall of 2020 
when there was significant uncertainty regarding a second round of 
funding for the program. Thanks to our union partners, the Air Line 
Pilots Association (ALPA), International Brotherhood of Teamsters 
(IBT), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers 
(IAM), Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) and Professional Airline 
Flight Control Association (PAFCA) for understanding the enormity of 
the challenge we collectively faced, for keeping our employees engaged, 
and for working with us to prevent furlough(s).

    Contract Workforce Role and Staffing. At the height of the 
pandemic, airport and aviation workers stood with airlines and called 
on the Federal government to make sure our national air travel system 
remained strong, aviation jobs were protected, and that airlines were 
ready to meet consumer travel demand.
    For decades, airlines have outsourced essential service airport 
jobs like cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, security officers, and 
baggage handlers to contractors at major airports across the country. 
Contract workers play a critical role in our aviation system and 
continue to work hard on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic to 
keep travelers safe.
    The pandemic has exposed problems with how domestic travel 
disruptions are being addressed and how such response affects the 
airline industry's workforce. For example, an August 2021 SEIU survey 
conducted in Houston to assess the experiences of contracted airport 
workers detailed incidents of short staffing and mandatory overtime 
policies causing workforce fatigue, which has created a strained 
operational environment.

    Question. How will your airline ensure that the contracted 
workforce, which provides such critical services, is stable, well-
trained, and has adequate staffing levels needed to respond to 
operational challenges?
    Answer. United works with our vendor partners to meet our standards 
for training and providing services to our customers. Given the 
workforce challenges in the larger economy, no industry or service 
provider is immune from staffing challenges at this time. Each local 
labor market may face unique issues too, including low unemployment 
levels that can make it difficult to fill open positions.
    Additionally, United has established daily touch points with our 
vendors at all hub and large line stations to assess staffing and the 
impact of Omicron. Our vendors continue to be very dedicated to 
maintaining safety, proper staffing levels and direct leadership/
oversight, to ensure United can operate the schedule as efficiently as 
possible, while never compromising on safety.

    Airline Workforce Recall. The Committee is aware that, in 2020, 
airlines took varying approaches to temporarily reduce the number of 
active employees on their payroll to avoid involuntarily furloughing or 
laying off employees as they experienced growing pandemic-related 
financial difficulties. Many airlines offered employee programs to 
incentivize voluntary separations, including voluntary furloughs, early 
retirements, and temporary leaves of absences.
    Airlines that extended voluntary leave options to their employees 
reserved the right to recall such employees from leave when necessary. 
To the Committee's knowledge, most airlines started broad workforce 
recall efforts in the first quarter of 2021, employing particularly 
concentrated efforts to bring back employees in January and February 
2021. However, recalling employees has not been an easy process as 
airlines have reported higher workforce shortages and rates of 
absenteeism in certain workgroups, leaving the airlines more ill-
equipped to meet consumer travel demand.

    Question 1. Has your airline experienced challenges in recalling 
your workforce? If so, did your airline anticipate such issues in 
recalling employees from leave before initiating your recall efforts? 
Please describe the scope of the workforce recall challenges your 
airline faced in 2021.
    Answer. United has not experienced any issues with recall of our 
workforce who have been participating in temporary leave programs.

    Question 2. Has your airline's workforce fully returned as of 
January 1, 2022? How did the status of your workforce's recall from 
voluntary leave programs affect your airline's ability to meet consumer 
air travel demand in 2021?
    Answer. The vast majority of our workforce has returned from 
voluntary temporary leave programs. Note, as a normal course of 
business, United offers voluntary temporary leave programs given the 
seasonality of some parts of our operation and staffing needs. These 
programs have not impacted our ability to meet customer demand. 
Additionally, United hired 6,500 new employees in 2021 with plans to 
hire another 9,500 employees in 2022.
Airline Operational and Scheduling Data.
    Question 1. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
please provide the number of flights your airline operated, the number 
of flights cancelled, the number of flights delayed more than 15 
minutes, the number of flights delayed more than 90 minutes, and the 
number of flights delayed more than six hours.
    Answer.

 
                                                      Flights  Departing  Flights  Departing   Flights Departing
    Month          Scheduled         Cancellations       more than 15        more  than 90      more  than 360
                  Departures                             Minutes  Late       Minutes  Late       Minutes Late
 
Oct-21                   58,156                 331              28,521               1,253                  84
Nov-21                   58,194                 287               9,187               1,768                  92
Dec-21                   62,036               1,911              16,046               2,953                 130
 
Note: Includes United Mainline operations only

    Question 2. For the month of January 2022, please provide the 
number of daily flights your airline operated, the number of flights 
cancelled, the number of flights delayed more than 15 minutes, the 
number of flights delayed more than 90 minutes, and the number of 
flights delayed more than six hours.
    Answer.

 
                                                      Flights  Departing  Flights  Departing   Flights Departing
    Month          Scheduled         Cancellations       more than 15        more  than 90      more  than 360
                  Departures                             Minutes  Late       Minutes  Late       Minutes Late
 
Jan-22                   33,891               1,869               8,627               1,856                 103
 
Note: Includes United Mainline operations only, through 1/18/2022

    Question 3. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
and January 2022, please detail any preemptive schedule changes that 
your airline made, including cancelling flights or changing the 
departure time by more than one hour.
    Answer. United proactively reduced its scheduled departures by up 
to 6 percent for this period to provide more operational flexibility 
and risk mitigation resources:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Oct-21       Nov-21       Dec-21       Jan-22
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled Flights--         128.5        125.9        129.5        122.0
 60 Days Out1 (000s)
Actual Scheduled            122.1        119.0        121.5        113.9
 Flights (000s)
Schedule Reduction         (5.0%)       (5.5%)       (6.2%)       (5.8%)
 percent
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. As measured from the start of month, includes all mainline and
  regional flights by affiliate airlines operating under a capacity
  purchase agreement

Airline Employment and Absenteeism Levels.
    Question 1. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
please provide the number of full-and part-time employees employed by 
your airline.
    Answer.
    U.S.-Based Employees:

        October 2021: 77,828

        November 2021: 78,115

        December 2021: 78,852

    Question 2. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
and January 2022, please detail any significant absenteeism problems 
experienced by your airline.
    Answer. Prior to late December 2021, United's absentee rates were 
consistent with previous years and did not impact our ability to 
operate our committed schedule. When Omicron began to spike in late 
December, the new variant drove unprecedented levels of absenteeism as 
our essential workforce began to test positive for COVID. Just as an 
example, in one day alone at Newark in late December, nearly one-third 
of our workforce called out sick.

    Refund Complaints. Mr. Kirby, even though many airlines had 
challenges over the summer and even this fall, you have told me that 
United was able to avoid these problems by being more conservative with 
scheduling, and by negotiating with your pilots to keep them on payroll 
and current on their training.
    In 2020, DOT received 29,687 refund complaints against U.S. 
airlines, a 4,634 percent increase over 2019. And while the problem has 
started to get better, DOT still received 5,129 refund complaints in 
September 2021, well above the 627 filed against U.S. airlines for all 
of 2019. Unfortunately, United was responsible for about 34 percent of 
all refund complaints against U.S. airlines 2020, and 24 percent from 
January through September of 2021.
    The pandemic was unprecedented and I know that as bookings suddenly 
plummeted, there was an immediate concern about a liquidity crisis that 
could be caused by processing mass refunds. I applaud United and many 
of its peers for voluntarily waiving flight change fees during the 
pandemic, even for non-refundable flights. However, when the airline is 
the one cancelling the flight, or when the flight is delayed for 
several hours, it seems pretty basic for consumers to be entitled to a 
refund and receive that refund within a reasonable timeframe.

    Question 1. Why has United been the subject of so many of these 
refund complaints--more than twice as many as any other U.S. airline in 
2020? What is United doing to improve here?
    Answer. By virtue of our network, United was impacted earlier and 
more acutely than many of our competitors. There was great uncertainty 
at the beginning of the pandemic and a real risk that such widespread 
disruption could shut down the system. With the benefit of hindsight, 
we would do things differently. But ultimately, we worked to ensure 
that we provided refunds to all passengers who were owed them and 
worked closely with regulators to answer their questions and alleviate 
their concerns.

    Question 2. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group recently 
estimated that airlines are sitting on $10 billion worth of liquidity 
from flight credits, and a CBS News article suggested that number might 
actually be as high as $20 billion. What is the dollar-number value of 
the flight credits that United has issued during the pandemic? What is 
the dollar value of the United flight credits that consumers have not 
yet utilized?
    Answer. Since the start of the pandemic, United processed more than 
$5 billion dollars in refunds. United currently does not owe any long-
standing refunds to passengers. The refunds that United currently owes 
to passengers are from recent refund requests and the company is 
processing those expeditiously and in accordance with the legal 
requirements (e.g., for credit card purchases within 7 days). For 
example, United's average response time for refund requests for 2021 
was within 3.8 days.

    Question 3. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has a rulemaking 
in the Unified Agenda which says that it is looking at defining what 
constitutes a ``cancellation'' and a ``significant delay''--the two 
things that entitle a customer to a refund. Currently, DOT lets 
airlines make their own determinations as to whether or not a flight is 
cancelled, and the number of hours that account for a ``significant'' 
delay. In your view, how many hours does a flight have to be delayed 
before a passenger is entitled to a refund? If the reluctance to issue 
refunds was just an issue of preserving cash on hand, then why were 
refund complaints still so high in 2021?
    Answer. Carriers should be given some leeway to define these terms 
for its passengers with guardrails from the DOT. United currently 
treats a flight as significantly delayed if the arrival or departure 
time changes by more than 2 hours for both domestic and international 
flights. But all carriers should not be required to adopt United's 
policy and there should be room within the rules for carriers to 
differentiate themselves from one another. As the DOT has pointed out, 
whether a delay is significant or not will depend on the circumstances 
(e.g., length of flight, duration of trip, time of schedule). In the 
initial stages of the pandemic, there were significant numbers of 
refund complaints because carriers could not respond quickly to the 
huge volume of refund requests. The number of refund complaints 
currently pales in comparison to the volume of refund complaints 
initially during the pandemic. But refund complaints are relatively 
high--compared to before the pandemic--because there remains 
significant uncertainty driven by the pandemic. For example, passengers 
may be traveling to see family and that family may develop COVID 
symptoms shortly before the trip--causing the passengers to no longer 
wish travel. Additionally, the pandemic has driven second and third 
order impacts that have caused passengers to want to cancel their trips 
or shift their travel (e.g., museum temporarily closes due to staffing 
shortages). Although passengers have the option to purchase refundable 
tickets, many chose not to do so.

    PSP Compliance. Under section 4116(a)(2) of the CARES Act, no 
corporate officer or employee of your airline whose total compensation 
exceeded $425,000 in calendar year 2019 (other than an employee whose 
compensation is determined through an existing collective bargaining 
agreement entered into prior to the enactment of the CARES Act) was 
permitted to receive from your airline, severance pay or other benefits 
upon termination of employment which exceeds twice the maximum total 
compensation received by the corporate officer or employee in 2019. Yet 
in the first quarter of 2021, your airline reported to the Department 
of the Treasury that some employees and corporate officers had received 
severance pay or other benefits after March 24, 2020 which more than 
doubled their 2019 total compensation.

    Question 1. Please explain whether the severance pay or other 
benefits provided to these employees and corporate officers complied 
with the CARES Act and associated Payroll Support Program requirements.
    Answer. No response required due to error in report. United is in 
full compliance and did not report severance pay double employees' 2019 
compensation.

    Question 2. Are you aware of any non-compliances associated with 
your airline's receipt of Payroll Support Program funding?
    Answer. United is in full compliance with the requirements of the 
Payroll Support Program.
                                 ______
                                 
 Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Richard Blumenthal to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Compensation for Consumers. Since March 2020, flight delays and 
cancellations have disrupted plans for countless travelers--and the 
most recent cancellations left people stranded in airports and away 
from family during the winter holiday season. Senator Markey and I have 
repeatedly called for full cash refunds for impacted consumers. But 
U.S. airlines have been slow to provide credits and legally-required 
refunds and have hidden behind vague ticketing policies. Media reports 
indicate that airlines are currently holding approximately $20 billion 
worth of travel vouchers and unrefunded ticket values.

    Question 1. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that United Airlines currently owes consumers? Please provide the 
amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. Since the start of the pandemic, United processed more than 
$5 billion dollars in refunds. United currently does not owe any long-
standing refunds to passengers. The refunds that United currently owes 
to passengers are from recent refund requests and the company is 
processing those expeditiously and in accordance with the legal 
requirements (e.g., for credit card purchases within 7 days). For 
example, United's average response time for refund requests for 2021 
was within 3.8 days.
    We have also taken other steps to give customers travel 
flexibility, including:

   Permanently eliminated change fees.

   Extended validity period for travel credits.

   Credit purchased before December 31, 2021 will be valid 
        through December 31, 2022.

   Allowing greater flexibility to combine and share travel 
        credits.

   Made travel credits easier to apply when rebooking.

    Question 2. Does United Airlines gain revenue (such as from 
interest) from the value of unused travel vouchers that are currently 
held in company accounts? If so, how much revenue has United Airlines 
collected from the funds in your accounts that are linked to unused 
travel vouchers since March 2020?
    Answer. No, United issues travel vouchers for a variety of reasons 
including goodwill compensation and, in some cases, credit for 
customers who are not eligible for refunds. Travel vouchers are carried 
on our accounts as liability for provision of as-yet unbooked future 
transportation and are not recognized as revenue until the bearer's 
travel is completed.

    Question 3. If United Airlines still owes consumers under Question 
1, by when will it have completed issuing its refunds? What is the 
reason for this delay?
    Answer. Please see Question 2.

    Question 4. United Airlines reportedly cancelled more than 200 
flights in the last week. How many consumers were impacted by these 
cancellations?
    Answer. During the week of December 20th, United and its United 
Express partners cancelled a total of 986 operations, or 3.4 percent of 
consolidated flights, affecting a total of 104,254 customers. 
Notwithstanding, we were able to re-accommodate 80 percent of those 
customers:

   40 percent reached their final destination within four hours 
        of their originally scheduled arrival time, including 20 
        percent that arrived before their originally scheduled time of 
        arrival

   40 percent reached their final destination with a delay of 
        four hours or more

   6 percent were issued refunds

   14 percent had not requested a refund or resumed travel as 
        of January 4th, 2022. Their travel funds remain available as a 
        credit for future flights.

    Question 5. Will United Airlines commit to providing full cash 
refunds to all impacted consumers? If not, explain why not and what 
compensation you will issue to consumers.
    Answer. As stated in Question 4, 80 percent of impacted passengers 
were reaccommodated. Six percent were issued refunds. The remaining 
passengers' travel funds remain available for future flights.

    Question 6. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that United Airlines owe consumers for these cancellations? Please 
provide the amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. Please see Question 4.

    Question 7. By when does United Airlines plan to have fully 
reimbursed consumers?
    Answer. Please see Question 4.

    Question 8. Please explain the causes of the recent flight 
cancellations as well as the steps that United Airlines is implementing 
to prevent a repeat of these cancellations.
    Answer. Since the beginning of December, the majority of mainline 
cancellations have been due to uncontrollable circumstances, like 
weather. In those cases, we reach out as early as possible to customers 
booked on those flights to offer alternative plans. Toward the end of 
December, however, we started experiencing a high volume of COVID-
related sick calls from our flight crew members. To mitigate this, we 
are taking a multiprong approach by pre-cancelling flights up to 7 days 
in advance, allowing us to re-accommodate passengers with ample notice, 
reducing scheduled operations further out and offering economic 
incentives for non-affected crew members to pick up uncovered lines of 
flying.

    Question 9. Does United Airlines maintain interline agreements with 
other carriers to allow passengers affected by disruptions an alternate 
means of getting to their destinations? If not, why not?
    Answer. When it is not possible to re-accommodate customers on 
United-branded flights, we will re-accommodate on other airlines, 
including direct competitors. As an example, of the 104,254 customers 
affected by cancellations during the week of December 20th, six percent 
of affected customers were re-accommodated on other carriers.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Brian Schatz to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Question 1. The Hawaiian Tourism Authority has made available 
public service videos to educate the public about being respectful 
tourists when they visit Hawaii.*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \*\ Videos available here: https://www.youtube.com/c/gohawaii

   In what ways are these videos made available to Hawaii-bound 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        travelers on your aircraft?

   Is one or more of these videos mandatory in some form for 
        in-bound Hawaii travelers using in-flight entertainment?

   If not, what hardware, software or policy barriers prevent 
        the videos from being made mandatory?

   Will you commit to making these videos mandatory for all 
        Hawaii-bound travelers using in-flight entertainment within the 
        next six months?

    Answer. All of the Malama videos produced by Hawaiian Visitors and 
Conventions Bureau are available on the video library on flights 
serving Hawaii, including our ``Personal Device Entertainment'' library 
which passenger access through the on-board Wi-Fi system.
    Inflight crew encourages and invites all passengers to watch the 
Malama videos.
    We have also added language referencing the Malama videos in the 
announcements to our classic ``Halfway to Hawaii'' game.
    Up to 80 percent of flights to Hawaii are onboard aircraft that 
either do not have seatback entertainment or the ability to push videos 
to customers throughout the cabin. As part of our United Next plan 
announced in June 2021, we will be adding seatback entertainment 
screens to nearly all mainline narrowbody aircraft by 2025. 
Additionally, we are working on our next-generation IFE system that has 
more capabilities of serving more tailored messaging to customers that 
we anticipate will debut in 2023.
    Beginning in later part of 1st quarter of 2022, this landing page 
to plan trips (Book flights to Hawaii | United Airlines) will include 
Malama messaging. United's Global Community Engagement team leads 
United's relationship with Conservation International (CI). The work 
with CI is focused on efforts to amplify the Malama sentiment across 
multiple platforms. CI has a contractual relationship with State of 
Hawaii's Department of Education to integrate the pledge locally and 
eventually will be made available to United and our customers.

    Question 2. The 2018 FAA reauthorization directed the agency to 
establish minimum seat sizes. There was an acknowledgement at the time 
that tighter seats and cramped quarters were causing conflicts between 
passengers and a potential safety hazard if there was an emergency. 
That seems even more important today. Most of the airline industry 
opposed the measure and the last administration failed to advance the 
rulemaking.

   Do you oppose minimum seat size standards?

   Do you believe the FAA should finalize regulations on 
        minimum seat dimensions?
    Answer. Each time the FAA has examined the issue, it has concluded 
that existing aircraft seat configurations do not present a safety 
hazard in the event of an emergency. A variety of seat dimensions are 
available in the market for customers to select a travel experience 
that best fits their preferences and budgets. United makes every effort 
to inform customers of their seating options, and we believe travel 
purchasers are well aware of these options when they book. We have in 
place a thorough, multi-layered strategy to prevent and de-escalate 
potential in-flight conflicts, as described in more detail in United's 
answer to Sen. Warnock's question below, that has proven effective 
regardless of passengers' seat dimensions.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Jacky Rosen to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Jet Fuel Supply. In July of this year, Reno-Tahoe Airport, the 
second largest airport in Nevada, faced a severe shortage of jet fuel 
available for aircrafts flying out of the airport. This was a 
potentially catastrophic issue that could have adversely impacted tens 
of thousands of travelers coming to and from Nevada and risked delays 
in vital cargo coming to the state. We have since learned that jet fuel 
shipments are based on travel trends from the previous year to decide 
how much jet fuel pipeline space is needed to purchase in order to meet 
current travel demand. But in 2020, demand was artificially low, as we 
dealt with an unpredictable global pandemic that completed halted air 
travel. As such, the data on air travel trends for 2020 was not a 
reliable gauge for predicting air travel demand in 2021, or the jet 
fuel necessary to accommodate that demand. Fortunately, my office, in 
partnership with the airport and impacted airlines, worked together to 
manage the situation. However, we must be better prepared to face 
similar situations in the future--it was jet fuel this time, but one 
could easily imagine relying on past year's numbers to determine future 
demand for staffing, scheduled flights, or supply purchases--
potentially with serious negative effects.
    Question. Mr. Kirby, would you please briefly discuss what United 
Airlines is doing to ensure that you have sufficient jet fuel supply to 
meet demand for travel in 2022, which may very well significantly 
exceed travel in 2021? And can you discuss how you make predictions for 
future air travel demand, generally, given that 2020 was a statistical 
anomaly?
    Answer.
    Jet Fuel Supply: In summer of 2021, with rapid recovery in domestic 
leisure demand and a pandemic-induced subordination of jet fuel in the 
transportation fuel supply chain, we and other passenger and cargo air 
carriers faced an unprecedented level of supply challenges at up to 40 
airports at one time. We took all possible measures to prevent or 
mitigate customers from being impacted by these challenges that were 
driven by lower pipeline allocations for jet fuel and the scarcity of 
trucking resources, particularly in smaller leisure-focused 
destinations. At RNO, United, with extraordinary efforts, was in a 
relatively well-situated supply position compared to other airlines, 
however, we do not wish to see fuel supply chain challenges at any 
airport we serve, big or small.
    To that end, our planning and operational teams are working even 
more closely to continually adjust our fuel supply planning and 
logistics and build more flexibility to rapidly adapt to changes in our 
requirements at every airport. This continual assessment and re-
assessment helps us identify and proactively address potential 
developing gaps while engaging our third-party suppliers, 
infrastructure and service providers. At the same time, there is only 
so much we can do as United alone with fuel supply infrastructure, 
which is largely inflexible in the short term. In cooperation with A4A, 
we have petitioned the FERC regarding the pipeline allocation issue and 
have exhausted all options to help jet fuel recover its rightful space 
on major pipelines and reduce its dependence on trucking. With 
continued travel demand recovery and potential increase in 2022 demand 
relative to pre-pandemic, there is a prospect of inadequate jet fuel 
shipments on pipelines impacting large airports that are dependent on 
them.
    Future Travel Demand: Forecasting of future year demand is done by 
two core areas at the airline: Network Planning (builds the schedule) 
and Revenue Management (sells/prices the schedule). In normal times, 
these groups typically start with the prior year demand metrics and 
then make adjustments for known dynamics such as GDP growth and high 
growth cities/geographic areas. In 2021, traditional demand forecasting 
was not applicable given the significant disruption in air travel in 
2020. Rather, we focused on deploying capacity in more leisure-focused 
markets, as well as adjusted schedules to localized demand changes as 
they developed throughout the year. For 2022, traditional demand 
forecasting is also not applicable. Our general approach has been to 
assume a 2019-like demand profile, with some general adjustments such 
as durable gains in many leisure-oriented markets (e.g., Florida). 
Business travel is also expected to have an uneven recovery in 2022, 
and demand recovery expectations have been tempered in business travel-
heavy markets (e.g., Chicago to Boston).
                                 ______
                                 
  Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Raphael Warnock to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Crew Safety. The Payroll Support Program has been a critical tool 
for protecting airline workers' jobs throughout the pandemic. Most of 
the airlines testified to the various policies and programs they have 
implemented to help protect passengers and prevent further spread of 
the coronavirus. However, testimony was also given about the terrible 
harassment and violent abuse airline crew members have faced at an 
alarming rate since the beginning of the pandemic. The Federal Aviation 
Administration and Department of Justice, under the Biden 
Administration have stepped up enforcement and prosecution efforts 
related to unruly passengers.
    Question. What is your airline doing to protect your employees' 
physical health and wellbeing--not just against COVID, but unruly 
passengers, as well?
    Answer.
   United is taking concrete actions to reduce the number and 
        rate of unruly passenger incidents.

   At the forefront of these initiatives, United addresses 
        unruly passenger behavior utilizing our robust, industry-
        leading safety program (established over a decade ago) that 
        includes a cross-functional committee tasked with investigating 
        and determining the appropriate corporate response following 
        physically abusive or physically threatening behavior by 
        passengers against United Airlines employees.

   United's passenger programs under this safety program's 
        umbrella have been expanded beyond employee-assault incident 
        reviews to include investigations into passengers who:

    (1)  Violate the Federal face mask-mandate

    (2)  Physically assault other passengers, or

    (3)  Directly impact our operations by their unruly behavior.

   The program includes post-incident employee support, such as 
        access to Employee Assistance Programs (``EAP'') and legal 
        guidance. It also ensures accountability for passengers 
        involved in incidents at the airport and on-board United 
        Airlines or United Express aircraft. We regularly communicate 
        to our team members that they have the full support of the 
        airline to report incidents and access to company resources 
        should an employee wish to press charges resulting from such an 
        incident.

   In addition, United's commitment to mitigating unruly 
        passenger behavior is further reflected in our collaborative 
        engagement with a broad spectrum of industry stakeholders to 
        develop and advocate for best practices, such as with our 
        airport partners and concessionaires to seek more consistent 
        and frequent messaging throughout the air travel journey about 
        expected behavior and the ramifications for unruly incidents.

   United has a vaccine requirement for all U.S.-based 
        employees subject to certain exemptions, which includes our FAs 
        who are domiciled in the U.S.

   United had the first mask requirement for FAs in the 
        industry (April 2020). Provisioning KN95 masks onboard for any 
        FA would like one.

   United had a customer mask requirement predating the Federal 
        mandate. Additionally, Flight attendants are provided with mask 
        compliance cards in 16 languages that they may hand out to non-
        compliant customers. These cards outline the Federal mandate 
        and the potential penalties for non-compliance.

   De-escalation training is included in continuing 
        qualification for flight attendants and included in initial 
        training for new hires. The mandatory training includes 
        specific scenarios and tools to navigate conflict.

   Basic self-defense training is included in continuing 
        qualification for flight attendants and included in initial 
        training for new hires. The approved required training includes 
        instructor-facilitated lessons with interactive hands-on basic 
        self-defense techniques training, including assailant restraint 
        training with onboard restraint devices.

   Resources through EAP (both company and AFA), as well as 
        Ginger (a confidential, on-demand mental healthcare at no cost 
        for all full-and part-time U.S.-based United employees and 
        their dependents ages 18 and older), for mental wellbeing 
        support.

    Voluntary Separation Programs & Rebuilding the Workforce. The 
Payroll Support Program was able to keep hundreds of thousands of hard-
working Americans--including many Georgians--on the job throughout the 
pandemic. However, no one Federal program could make up for all the 
losses or solve all the challenges inflicted upon the airline industry 
by the pandemic. And airlines had to adjust. As a result, we saw the 
airline workforce reduced significantly--mostly through voluntary 
separation and early retirement packages offered by airlines.
    Question 1. Could you expound on the need for these programs and 
how you worked with your employees to implement them?
    Answer. United offered both voluntary unpaid leaves of absence and 
voluntary separation programs during 2020 and 2021. At the end of 2021, 
we had a small number of employees still participating in leave of 
absence programs. Regarding voluntary separation programs:

   During 2020, the Company offered voluntary separation 
        programs (``VSPs'') to its U.S.-based front-line employees and 
        management and administrative employees. The Company offered 
        certain of its eligible front-line employees, based on employee 
        group, age and completed years of service, special termination 
        benefits in the form of additional years of pension service and 
        additional subsidies for retiree medical costs. Approximately 
        5,500 employees elected to voluntarily separate from the 
        Company.

   During the first quarter of 2021, the Company offered 
        Voluntary Separation Leave (``VSL'') programs to certain U.S.-
        based front-line employees. The Company offered, based on 
        employee group, age and completed years of service, pay 
        continuation while on leave of absence, health care coverage 
        and travel benefits. Approximately 4,800 employees elected to 
        voluntarily separate from the Company.

    Question 2. How did these programs allow you to invest in and 
support your employees?
    Answer. The rapid implementation of the Payroll Support Program 
(PSP) prevented what would have been an unprecedented shutdown of air 
service that would have impacted the U.S. and world economy for years 
to come. The PSP allowed us to maintain operational consistency, 
avoiding the challenges that shutdowns, mass involuntary layoffs and 
furloughs would have created. In addition, the PSP enabled us to 
maintain our workforce and protect the livelihoods of tens of thousands 
of United employees--keeping pilots and others current and at-the-ready 
to respond to a rebound in demand.

    Question 3. As air traffic has begun to bounce back, what are your 
plans for rehiring and rebuilding your workforce?
    Answer. Through 2026, we expect to create 25,000 new careers, 
totaling thousands of openings at each of our seven domestic hubs. 
These union jobs have compensation above the Federal minimum wage and 
come with company-sponsored medical coverage, company-funded retirement 
programs, paid sick leave and vacation, and flight benefits. We are not 
interested in offering just a job. We want to provide a rewarding, 
long-term career--69 percent of the senior leaders at United came up 
through the ranks in jobs like these. The following tables provide our 
hiring targets and goals for 2021 and 2022 in each job category.

                                               2021 Hiring Results
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                 Dec 2021
                                                            Jan-Nov 2021       (projected)         2021 Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pilots                                                               1,300                100              1,400
Flight Attendants                                                      850                300              1,150
Airport Ops                                                          2,200                200              2,400
Technicians                                                            300                 50                350
Other (including M&A)                                                  950                 50              1,000
Totals                                                               5,600                700              6,300
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                          2022 Hiring Forecast
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 2022
                                                             (projected)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pilots                                                             2,000
Flight Attendants                                                  2,500
Airport Ops                                                        2,600
Technicians                                                          600
Other (including M&A)                                              1,800
Totals                                                             9,500
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Roger Wicker to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Question. One condition of the Payroll Support Program was that 
recipients of the funds were required to continue air service to the 
communities they previously served, unless a waiver was received from 
the Secretary of Transportation. However, with the expiration of PSP 
and passenger travel on the rebound airlines are beginning to make 
adjustments to their service routes, and there are concerns smaller 
communities will bear a brunt of the cuts. According to a recent news 
article, Delta Air Lines intends to cut service to seven routes to 
three small communities. United Airlines announced last month they will 
be pulling out of eleven small communities, all serviced by regional 
airline partners.
    Several airlines have announced cuts in service to small 
communities in the last month or so. As I am sure you are aware, small 
communities rely on their air service to connect them to the rest of 
the country. In light of recent service cuts to small communities can 
you assure us that air service to small and rural communities will 
remain at or above pre-COVID levels once your networks return to those 
same levels?
    Answer. Providing comprehensive access to customers from 
communities of all sizes, including small communities, is a fundamental 
objective of United's global route network. However, the ongoing 
operating environment within the regional airline space has resulted in 
a need to prioritize due to limited pilot staffing resources. In 
addition, some individual markets have become or remained unprofitable, 
making them even more difficult to sustain in light of this pilot 
shortage.
    The nation's mainline carriers are in the midst of a massive pilot 
hiring initiative as a result of record fleet growth and a large 
buildup of mandatory near-term pilot retirements. Given the limited 
flow of military pilots into the commercial ranks, the vast majority of 
these vacancies are being filled by the current regional pilot 
population. To put this into context, projected industry mainline 
hiring through 2023 alone is greater than the entire U.S. regional 
pilot workforce today.
    We are working on solutions in collaboration with our pilot union 
that will address pilot supply to our regional carriers, but over time, 
the mainline pilot recruitment issue will grow. Service to small and 
mid-sized communities continues to be an important component of 
United's network and we continue to look for opportunities to provide 
our customers access to these locations.
                                 ______
                                 
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Shelley Moore Capito to 

                              Scott Kirby
    Question 1. Based on today's testimonies, domestic commercial 
aviation is on the rebound. According to the TSA, just under 21 million 
travelers were screened during the 10-day Thanksgiving holiday. That is 
near the 2019 record of 26 million travelers for the same period. Do 
you anticipate passenger travel to be at or near 2019 levels for the 
Christmas season?
    Answer. United's passenger volumes for the period December 16, 
2021-January 2, 2022, were down 21 percent compared to the same day-of-
week mapped period in 2019. Seat capacity for the same period was down 
17 percent. It is important to note this period was impacted by the 
surge in Omicron cases which drove higher levels of passenger 
cancellations and operational disruptions.

    Question 2. Have you seen an increase in airfare over the past 
couple months? If so, what do you contribute for this increase?
    Answer:
    
    
    Question 3. In 2018, Congress passed a bipartisan five-year 
reauthorization of the FAA. In the near future, Congress will have to 
consider and debate policy in order to reauthorize the FAA before 2023. 
An important component of the reauthorization will be the FAA's Next 
Generation Transportation System (NextGen) initiative and its 
deployment. The success of this initiative is entirely dependent on how 
quickly the FAA and aircraft operations can fully implement NextGen. 
Could you each discuss some of the investments your airlines have made 
in implementing NextGen?
    Answer. Since 2018, United has made significant investments in 
NextGen in several ways, not least of which is in aircraft equipage, 
specifically in:

  1)  Required Nav Performance--Authorization Required (RNP AR)

  2)  Advanced RNP

  3)  GPS Landing System (GLS)

  4)  DataComm--Datalink Clearance (DCL) and Controller Pilot Datalink 
        Communication (CPDLC)

  5)  Automatic Dependent Surveillance--Out (ADS-B Out--FAA Mandate)

    Our human capital investments have been significant as well. The 
United employees are ever present in the industry engagement and 
collaborative sessions vital to the FAA's implementation of NextGen. 
United was very involved in airspace redesign, NextGen Advisory 
Committee, Performance Based Operations ARC, RTCA, and many other 
meetings to support, inform and deploy NextGen initiatives. We have 
also made IT infrastructure investments to align with FAA's System Wide 
Information System (SWIM) evolution, an important building block for 
NextGen in terms of data exchange and more rapid development of 
operational support capabilities.

    Question 4. In your opinion, what are some of the current barriers 
to NextGen implementation?
    Answer. Some of the current barriers to NextGen implementation are 
structural in nature. For example, the FAA's self-imposed and broken 
acquisition management system. While it works, perhaps, for procuring 
systems like radar systems, it is not nearly nimble enough to keep pace 
with emerging technologies. A glaring example is the FAA's antiquated 
and fragile Traffic Flow Management System. By the time TFMS is 
replaced the solution will likely be considered old technology. Another 
challenge is the FAA's inconsistent funding stream, which makes it 
difficult for them to plan. While the funding stream has improved in 
recent years, there is likely more that can be improved upon.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Rick Scott to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Question 1. Last year, the American taxpayers bailed out the 
airline industry with nearly $54 billion in tax dollars, while many 
small and medium-sized businesses closed their doors for good. Your 
company entered an agreements with the U.S. Treasury with the promise 
of return on the taxpayers' investment. Can you provide an update on 
what kind of return on investment the American taxpayers can expect?
    Answer. United is immensely grateful for the CARES Act and its 
Payroll Support Program (PSP) which enabled the industry, a driver of 
the economy, to survive the most disruptive crisis in commercial 
aviation. The PSP prevented what would have been an unprecedented 
shutdown of air service that would have impacted the U.S. economy for 
years to come. The PSP allowed us to maintain operational consistency, 
avoiding the challenges that shutdowns, mass involuntary layoffs and 
furloughs would have created. In addition, the PSP enabled us to 
maintain our workforce and protect the livelihoods of tens of thousands 
of United employees--keeping pilots and others current and at-the-ready 
to respond to a rebound in demand. Importantly, we supplemented this 
Federal support with our own, unprecedented cost-cutting and 
fundraising efforts. The PSP gave us the time and the bridge to capital 
markets where we raised $23 billion in debt and equity that were 
crucial to our survival and our ability to serve a role in the COVID 
response and in the economy. To support the pandemic response, we 
activated our people and capabilities to operate more than 130 
repatriation flights bringing home more than 18,000
    Americans who were stranded abroad, and booked nearly 3,000 free 
flights for medical professionals to areas in need. Through a 
combination of cargo-only and passenger flights, United transported 
more than 401 million pounds of freight, including 154 million pounds 
of vital shipments, such as medical kits, PPE, pharmaceuticals, and 
medical equipment, and more than 3 million pounds of military mail and 
packages. And once the vaccines were ready for distribution, we sprang 
into action. United has flown approximately 400 million vaccines around 
the world. Throughout the pandemic, United has been committed to 
providing our unique resources and relationships to assist in those 
areas hardest hit by COVID-19. We are grateful to Congress for 
recognizing the importance of the industry's workforce, the service we 
provide, and our role as a driver of the economy.

    Question 2. I am hearing from Floridians who work for your company 
that they are being placed on UNPAID leave after being granted a 
religious exemption to your vaccine mandate. Title VII of the Civil 
Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on religion 
[1], and yet your company is placing employees who decline 
to receive the COVID vaccine based upon their sincerely held religious 
beliefs on unpaid leave. Do you believe you are currently in compliance 
with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act?
    Answer. United's vaccine policy is in full compliance with all 
applicable laws, including Title VII. The policy was implemented in 
response to the grave risks posed by COVID-19. The data available at 
that time showed that unvaccinated individuals were about 50 times more 
likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than a vaccinated person, and 
nearly 300 times more likely to die. Before we implemented the policy, 
more than one United employee per week, on average, was dying of COVID-
19. Since our vaccine policy went into effect, the hospitalization rate 
among our employees has been 100 times lower than the general 
population. Based on United's prior experience and the nationwide data 
related to COVID fatalities among the unvaccinated, that means there 
are approximately 8-10 United employees who are alive today because of 
our vaccine requirement.
    In accordance with Federal law, our policy provides for religious 
and medical accommodations. United welcomed and carefully considered on 
a case by case basis all applications. Indeed, we went beyond the 
minimum legal requirements and accepted requests based on any valid 
medical ground (not just disability) and/or any sincerely held belief. 
That is reflected in the fact that we granted the majority of religious 
accommodation requests and medical accommodation requests. Employees 
seeking an accommodation under United's policy were required to submit 
their requests through Help Hub, a web-based portal maintained by 
United. Based on the information submitted, follow-up requests for 
information were issued, clarification questions were asked, or third-
party attestations were requested.
    At present, none of our accommodated employees are required to 
remain on unpaid leave; they all have other alternatives. Our ``non-
customer facing'' employees--including ramp service employees, 
mechanics, and other ``below the wing'' personnel--remain at work in 
their regular positions, subject to masking and testing requirements. 
Others, including customer service representatives, were transitioned 
to temporary assignments that do not require direct interaction with 
customers. Similar measures were not possible for flight crew--pilots 
and flight attendants--due to their unique working conditions as well 
as constraints imposed by union contracts and Federal regulations. As a 
result, they were placed on temporary unpaid leave, but they all have 
preferential consideration to available non-customer facing jobs at 
United. Because there are many open positions, there is abundant 
opportunity for accommodated employees on leave to apply for these 
roles and earn a paycheck.

    Question 3. Mr. Kirby, during the hearing I asked you, rather than 
putting employees on unpaid leave if they did not get vaccinated, to 
offer testing every day instead. You stated that United Airlines does 
not do this because it's all about ``safety''. What could be safer than 
having proof, in the form of a negative test, that your employees do 
not have COVID? We know that breakthrough infections occur, so even for 
fully vaccinated individuals the safest option would still be frequent 
testing.
    Answer. United made the decision to require COVID-19 vaccines 
because those who are vaccinated have a significantly reduced risk of 
contracting a serious case of COVID that requires hospitalization or 
leads to death. While testing is certainly a tool to support a strategy 
aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19, it is not a replacement for 
vaccination. Testing only provides a snapshot in time of a person's 
COVID-19 status but does not provide the vaccine's reduction in risk of 
death or severe disease. Please also refer to the vaccine policy answer 
to question No. 2 above.

    Question 4. Does United Airlines vaccine mandate for employees 
including provisions for individuals who have natural immunity having 
recovered from COVID-19 infection? If not, why?
    Answer. At the time it was implemented, the policy allowed, on a 
case by case basis, for certain employees who had contracted COVID-19 
to delay vaccination. The policy does not otherwise provide for 
exemptions based on natural immunity. Following Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance, vaccination is the best form of 
protection against COVID-19. A study by the CDC found unvaccinated 
people who have had COVID-19 are more than twice as likely to be 
reinfected with the virus compared with people who were fully 
vaccinated after contracting the virus. Please also refer to the 
vaccine policy answer to question No. 2 above.

    Question 5. Other companies on this panel have created policies 
that do not effectively fire their employees, while still complying 
with all Federal laws. Why have you taken the stance that denying a 
paycheck to employees who object to the vaccines based upon a sincerely 
held religious belief is appropriate and fair?
    Answer. Please refer to the vaccine policy answer to question No. 2 
above which describes that employees who were approved for a religious 
exemption to the policy were provided accommodation options that 
enabled them to remain working.

    Question 6. It has been reported United has entered agreements to 
sell planes to the Bank of China Aviation, which is a state-owned bank, 
and lease them back to their companies long-term. Do you believe there 
are national security implications with the Bank of China Aviation 
owning your assets? Do you plan to continue this practice?
    Answer. Investors all over the world are eager to invest in the 
U.S. aviation sector. United complies with all applicable laws and 
safeguards in international aircraft transactions.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Ron Johnson to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Question 1. On what basis are you mandating the vaccine for your 
employees? Is it only because of the Federal contractor mandate or is 
it also due to a company decision?
    Answer. United's vaccine policy is in full compliance with all 
applicable laws, including Title VII. The policy was implemented in 
response to the grave risks posed by COVID-19. The data available at 
that time showed that unvaccinated individuals were about 50 times more 
likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than a vaccinated person, and 
nearly 300 times more likely to die. Before we implemented the policy, 
more than one United employee per week, on average, was dying of COVID-
19. Since our vaccine policy went into effect, the hospitalization rate 
among our employees has been 100 times lower than the general 
population. Based on United's prior experience and the nationwide data 
related to COVID fatalities among the unvaccinated, that means there 
are approximately 8-10 United employees who are alive today because of 
our vaccine requirement.
    In accordance with Federal law, our policy provides for religious 
and medical accommodations. United welcomed and carefully considered on 
a case by case basis all applications. Indeed, we went beyond the 
minimum legal requirements and accepted requests based on any valid 
medical ground (not just disability) and/or any sincerely held belief. 
That is reflected in the fact that we granted the majority of religious 
accommodation requests and medical accommodation requests. Employees 
seeking an accommodation under United's policy were required to submit 
their requests through Help Hub, a web-based portal maintained by 
United. Based on the information submitted, follow-up requests for 
information were issued, clarification questions were asked, or third-
party attestations were requested.
    At present, none of our accommodated employees are required to 
remain on unpaid leave; they all have other alternatives. Our ``non-
customer facing'' employees--including ramp service employees, 
mechanics, and other ``below the wing'' personnel--remain at work in 
their regular positions, subject to masking and testing requirements. 
Others, including customer service representatives, were transitioned 
to temporary assignments that do not require direct interaction with 
customers. Similar measures were not possible for flight crew--pilots 
and flight attendants--due to their unique working conditions as well 
as constraints imposed by union contracts and Federal regulations. As a 
result, they were placed on temporary unpaid leave, but they all have 
preferential consideration to available non-customer facing jobs at 
United. Because there are many open positions, there is abundant 
opportunity for accommodated employees on leave to apply for these 
roles and earn a paycheck.
    In further response to your question, we implemented the vaccine 
policy prior to the Federal Contractor mandate being issued.

    Question 2. What data are you keeping related to infections of 
COVID-19 and reactions to vaccines among your employees and passengers?
    Answer. We are only keeping data related to COVID-19 infections as 
provided by United employees to the company. We do not have any 
information related to employee reactions to vaccines or any 
information related to customers' vaccine records or potential 
reactions to COVID-19 vaccinations.

    Question 3. How many employees have had COVID-19?
    Answer. As of January 27, 2022, United has had approximately 18,800 
employees report to the company that they have tested positive for 
COVID.

    Question 4. How many were hospitalized?
    Answer. Since our vaccine policy went into effect, the 
hospitalization rate among our employees has been 100 times lower than 
the general population.

    Question 5. How many died?
    Answer. Before we implemented the policy, more than one United 
employee per week, on average, was dying of COVID-19.

    Question 6. How many were vaccinated versus unvaccinated?
    Answer. Ultimately, 99.7 percent of our domestic U.S.-based 
employees, excluding those individuals who requested and were approved 
for an exemption, were vaccinated.

    Question 7. How many fully vaccinated employees have had a 
breakthrough case of COVID-19?
    Answer. Since our vaccine policy went into effect, the 
hospitalization rate among our employees has been 100 times lower than 
the general population.

    Question 8. Have there been any COVID-19 outbreaks that were traced 
to a commercial flight? If so, how many?
    Answer. We do not have any information from the CDC that indicates 
a COVID-19 outbreak was traced to a United commercial flight.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Question 1. Mr. Kirby, in your testimony you referenced a pilot 
shortage multiple times. According to data from the Federal Aviation 
Administration (FAA), over the past 10 years the U.S. has issued an 
average of 6,000 Airline Transport Pilots (ATPs) certificates to new 
pilots each year while the number of retirements from all the airlines 
has averaged about 1,800 each year during that same time. Based upon 
these figures it seems like we are producing more pilots than there are 
jobs for them, so where is the pilot shortage coming from that you said 
is causing your airline to pull out of small communities like Columbia, 
MO?
    Answer. While approximately 6,000 Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) 
certificates are issued annually and the industry expects approximately 
2,600 annual retirements in the coming years, we are facing a dramatic 
shortfall in pilot supply due to a number of factors. COVID caused many 
airlines to offer early retirements and other exits to thousands of 
pilots and that, coupled with the cessation of hiring for nearly two 
years, has created a short-term industry deficit of more than 5,000 
pilots. Additionally, industry growth will require thousands of 
incremental pilots annually for many years. ATP certificates are also 
issued to pilots who gain employment outside the U.S. certificated 
airline (Part 121) world and Part 121 attrition includes factors beyond 
retirement such as medical retirements and exits to career 
opportunities outside of aviation.

    Question 2. There are a lot of challenges that continue to face the 
airline industry, whether it's decreased passenger ridership, workforce 
related challenges, or continued emergence of COVID variants. Can you 
elaborate and share with the Committee what you think the airline 
industry needs in order to operate successfully during these 
challenging times, and what can Congress do to help the airline 
industry return to pre-pandemic operational levels? Do you ever see the 
airline industry returning to how it used to operate before the 
pandemic?
    Answer. Two proposals currently under consideration in Congress 
that would benefit the airline industry include increasing access to 
financial assistance for student pilots and improving security 
screening. A challenge that existed prior to the pandemic, but has been 
accelerated by the pandemic, is pilot supply. Pilot shortages are not 
impacting United mainline hiring but are a challenge for the regional 
carriers today which impacts the ability of United and other mainline 
carriers to support desired regional aircraft flying schedules. 
Congress should pass legislation to improve access to student loan 
funding for aspiring pilots as the high cost of pilot training can 
prevent those with the aptitude but not the means from becoming a 
commercial airline pilot. Another recommendation to help the airline 
industry is for Congress to pass legislation establishing a one-stop 
security pilot program to reduce redundant screening at TSA checkpoints 
and allow TSA to focus its resources on passengers who have not yet 
been screened. Congress should also work to modernize air traffic 
management through the Next Generation Air Transportation System 
(NextGen) to improve aviation fuel usage and efficiency; and establish 
a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Blender's Tax Credit to help scale 
production.
    We have full confidence that all types of travel will return, 
however we still face a number of challenges. If the virus evolves from 
being pandemic to endemic, and hospitalizations and deaths wane, we 
would encourage the government to reevaluate the travel requirements 
that exist today. Decisions to modify these requirements must be rooted 
in science-based data to clearly demonstrate to the traveling public 
how and why these decisions are being made.

    Question 3. Ms. Nelson mentioned in her testimony that not all 
aircrafts are equipped with high efficiency particulate (HEPA) filters 
used to create a safe traveling environment in airplane cabins. Can you 
provide the Committee which aircrafts in your fleet currently have 
these HEPA filters installed and which aircrafts do not? For those 
aircrafts that do not have these HEPA filters currently in place, what 
plans, if any, are there to ensure smaller, regional aircrafts have 
these safety measures installed?
    Answer. All United mainline aircraft are equipped with HEPA filters 
on air recirculation systems. For our United Express partner aircraft, 
all aircraft used in the Express fleet are equipped with HEPA filters 
on air recirculation systems, with the exception of the CRJ200 fleet 
which is not equipped with an air recirculation system (no recirculated 
air, no HEPA filter needed). Note that the EMB145 aircraft was not 
equipped with HEPA filters on the air recirculation system pre-
pandemic. United worked with our Express partner and industry to 
implement a retrofit of HEPA filters on the air recirculation system 
for this fleet. That retrofit effort has been completed on all EMB145 
aircraft.

    Question 4. I would agree with all the airlines executive witnesses 
that some of the success stories from the earlier CARES act packages 
are the investments Congress made in programs like the Payroll Support 
Program (PSP) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help sectors 
like the airline industry sustain during the pandemic. I have spoken 
with many of you throughout the pandemic and leading up to today's 
hearing. And an interesting observation I have noticed that has emerged 
from the pandemic is a general shift in how employees view work 
nowadays and the reluctance to return to the workplace. Can the 
airlines offer the Committee your thoughts on this and the challenges 
you have experienced in addressing this mentality shift in terms of 
incentivizing and encouraging employees to return to work?
    Answer. Most United Airlines employees work in the operation--
helping customers or working on aircraft--and have continued to come to 
work throughout the pandemic. Airline work is challenging and rewarding 
and airline jobs are highly desirable. For most jobs, we receive 
applications for far more people than we can hire. We have adjusted to 
changes in a few categories of jobs, for example by offering hiring or 
referral bonuses in select positions and markets for some airport jobs 
to make sure we can attract the best applicants, and by offering 
additional pay for select roles during busy times, as well as overtime 
and shift options. For office-based workers, we have shifted to a 
hybrid approach where that combines our past in-person culture with 
flexibility set by each department. At every United location, our 
masking rules are in line with local regulations to maximize safety for 
all of our employees.
                                 ______
                                 
      Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Mike Lee to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Question 1. In your testimony you referenced your partnerships with 
DARPA and the Cleveland Clinic to study the unique airflow 
configuration of airplanes. And you proudly noted that United uses HEPA 
filtration systems. In response to a question from Senator Wicker, you 
noted that airplanes ``are far safer'' than most other indoor 
environments related to COVID-19 transmission. Given your 
acknowledgment that airplanes ``are far safer'' than most indoor 
environments, do you believe Federal mask mandates on planes are 
necessary? Why or why not?
    Answer. As an industry, we've been proactive and successful in 
implementing multi-layered, risk-based measures to protect travelers 
and employees. We implemented a mask mandate for passengers and 
employees as one of these measure before the Federal mask mandate was 
established. The current mandate is set to expire in March. If the 
virus evolves from being pandemic to endemic, and hospitalizations and 
deaths wane, we would encourage the government to reevaluate the travel 
requirements that exist today. Decisions to modify these requirements 
must be rooted in science-based data to clearly demonstrate to the 
traveling public how and why these decisions are being made.

    Question 2. Do you support COVID-19 vaccination mandates for 
domestic air passengers?
    Answer. It is the government's responsibility to determine if a 
vaccination mandate for domestic air travel is in the best interest of 
the traveling public. For example, the Federal government has now 
instituted a vaccine requirement for all international flights to the 
U.S., with limited exceptions, and we are in compliance with that. Our 
focus with our vaccine policy was to ensure the safety of our employees 
and our workplace.

    Question 3. Have you advocated to any official within the White 
House or a Federal agency advocating or supporting such a mandate for 
interstate domestic air travel?
    Answer. No.

    Question 4. Has the White House or any Federal official advocated 
that you or United Airlines implement a COVID-19 vaccination mandate 
for domestic air passengers?
    Answer. No.

    Question 5. During the hearing you noted that United Airlines 
implemented its vaccine mandate ``well ahead of any government 
directive'' and you proudly stated that ``we remain the only airline to 
successfully complete a vaccination requirement for employees.'' Given 
the other airlines have chosen to not comply with the Federal vaccine 
mandate, or not impose a mandate of their own, along with the lack of 
evidence that the virus has spread on airplanes, why did you implement 
such a mandate; especially if as noted above there is little to no 
evidence that aircraft pose a greater risk of spread than indoor 
environments?
    Answer. United's vaccine policy was implemented in response to the 
grave risks posed by COVID-19. The data available at that time showed 
that unvaccinated individuals were about 50 times more likely to be 
hospitalized for COVID-19 than a vaccinated person, and nearly 300 
times more likely to die. Before we implemented the policy, more than 
one United employee per week, on average, was dying of COVID-19. Since 
our vaccine policy went into effect, the hospitalization rate among our 
employees has been 100 times lower than the general population. Based 
on United's prior experience and the nationwide data related to COVID 
fatalities among the unvaccinated, that means there are approximately 
8-10 United employees who are alive today because of our vaccine 
requirement.
    Moreover, any risk of transmission on airplanes is not the sole or 
even primary consideration. Our flight crew employees also spend time 
outside of airplanes in environments where they could be exposed to the 
virus, including in airports, crew vans, hotels, and other indoor 
facilities. In addition, many of our employees, such as ground crew, do 
not work inside of our aircrafts and instead work in more traditional 
indoor environments that do not have the same filtration systems.

    Question 6. How many employees of United Airlines have you 
terminated due to being unvaccinated?
    Answer. There are approximately 190 employees who did not comply 
with the policy and did not seek or were not approved for an exemption 
and accordingly have been separated from the company.

    Question 7. How many employees of United Airlines have you placed 
on unpaid leave, due to being unvaccinated?
    Answer. There are approximately 1,080 employees who are presently 
on a temporary unpaid leave of absence and who have elected not to 
pursue alternative employment within the company.
    In accordance with Federal law, our policy provides for religious 
and medical accommodations. United welcomed and carefully considered on 
a case by case basis all applications. Indeed, we went beyond the 
minimum legal requirements and accepted requests based on any valid 
medical ground (not just disability) and/or any sincerely held belief. 
That is reflected in the fact that we granted the majority of religious 
accommodation requests and medical accommodation requests. Employees 
seeking an accommodation under United's policy were required to submit 
their requests through Help Hub, a web-based portal maintained by 
United. Based on the information submitted, follow-up requests for 
information were issued, clarification questions were asked, or third 
party attestations were requested.
    At present, none of our accommodated employees are required to 
remain on unpaid leave; they all have other alternatives. Our ``non-
customer facing'' employees--including ramp service employees, 
mechanics, and other ``below the wing'' personnel--remain at work in 
their regular positions, subject to masking and testing requirements. 
Others, including customer service representatives, were transitioned 
to temporary assignments that do not require direct interaction with 
customers. Similar measures were not possible for flight crew--pilots 
and flight attendants--due to their unique working conditions as well 
as constraints imposed by union contracts and Federal regulations. As a 
result, they were placed on temporary unpaid leave, but they all have 
preferential consideration to available non-customer facing jobs at 
United. Because there are many open positions, there is abundant 
opportunity for accommodated employees on leave to apply for these 
roles and earn a paycheck.

    Question 8. Does ``unpaid leave'' come with the loss of 
unemployment benefits and/or healthcare coverage?
    Answer. The benefits available to employees on a leave is dependent 
on the type of leave being taken and the terms of the applicable 
collective bargaining agreement governing the employee. In some 
instances, employees on a leave of absence may be eligible for 
unemployment benefits which depends on state specific requirements. 
Please also refer to the vaccine policy answer above.

    Question 9. How many employees of United Airlines have you granted 
religious exemptions from the vaccine mandate? And how many have you 
denied?
    Answer. Over 2000 requests for religious and medical accommodations 
were granted. Please also refer to the vaccine policy answer to 
question No. 7 above.

    Question 10. Is ``unpaid leave'' the only ``reasonable 
accommodation'' that you provide for an individual whose religious 
exemption is approved? If not, what are the other ``reasonable 
accommodations that you provide'' and how often have you provided them?
    Answer. Temporary unpaid leaves were not the only accommodation 
option made available to employees who were approved for an exemption. 
For details on the types of accommodation options offered, please refer 
to the vaccine policy answer to question No. 7 above. In addition, the 
company has accommodated some employees who have non-operational job 
duties with a fully remote work schedule.

    Question 11. How many employees of United Airlines have you granted 
medical exemptions from the vaccine mandate? And how many have you 
denied?
    Answer. Over 2000 requests for religious and medical accommodations 
were granted. Please also refer to the vaccine policy answer to 
question No. 7 above.

    Question 12. As I'm sure you are aware, Title VII of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964 requires that medical and religious exemptions be 
made available in the context of COVID-19 vaccination requirements, 
including at United Airlines. I was sent a YouTube video of you 
speaking at an internal United townhall meeting dated August 25, 2021 
\1\ where you stated,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU95QYSEOXQ

        ``By the way there are going to be very few people that get 
        through the medical and religious exemptions. There are some 
        pretty strict rules about that. So, any pilot or any employee 
        that's all of a sudden decided that `I'm really religious'. . 
        .you're putting your job on the line. You better be very 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        careful about that.''

    This statement seems to show hostility to employees who might want 
to seek a religious accommodation. Does United have a presumption that 
someone seeking a religious accommodation to the vaccine mandate should 
be denied?
    Answer. We carefully considered all requests for exemptions based 
on a person's sincerely held religious belief and deny that employees 
were discouraged from seeking exemptions. As previously noted in our 
response to question No. 7 above, the majority of religious exemption 
requests were granted. The quoted statement was addressing the problem 
of individuals who might try to submit an exemption request for reasons 
other than a sincerely held belief, which is not appropriate under 
company policy or applicable law.

    Question 13. In your testimony, you noted that ``we are proud of 
our actions and transparency on diversity, equity, and inclusion.'' 
Does your DEI policy cover religious beliefs?
    Answer. Yes, our DEI policies include religion and religious 
beliefs.

    Question 14. I've heard from former United Airlines employees that 
the process for filing for a religious exemption at your company 
requires individuals to submit a third-party letter from a pastor, 
clergy member, or other religious leader that ``vouches'' for the 
employee's sincerely held religious beliefs. In 29 CFR 1605.1, the 
Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC's) regulations 
note that ``The fact that no religious group espouses such beliefs or 
the fact that the religious group to which the individual professes to 
belong may not accept such belief will not determine whether the belief 
is a religious belief of the employee or prospective employee.'' How 
does your ``third-party letter requirement'' comply with current 
Federal EEOC regulations?
    Answer. Our policy and the review and approval process for 
exemption requests was in full compliance with Title VII and EEOC 
regulations. In addition, please refer to the vaccine policy answer to 
question No. 7 above.

    Question 15. During the hearing you mentioned that you had a worker 
shortage, including pilots. You've stated that United Airlines has 
fired employees who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Aren't you 
exacerbating your own workforce shortage?
    Answer. We experienced a small number of terminations of employees 
who refused to comply with the policy or obtain an exemption, but the 
numbers were so small and decentralized that they didn't impact our 
operation.
                                 ______
                                 
  Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Marsha Blackburn to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Question 1. Please indicate how many employees United had on the 
following dates:

    a. March 27, 2020
    Answer. 89,432

    b. August 27, 2021
    Answer. 78,820

    c. December 15, 2021
    Answer. 78,852

    Question 2. How many employees applied for a religious 
accommodation from United's COVID-19 vaccine?
    Answer. In accordance with Federal law, our policy provides for 
religious and medical accommodations. United welcomed and carefully 
considered on a case by case basis all applications. Indeed, we went 
beyond the minimum legal requirements and accepted requests based on 
any valid medical ground (not just disability) and/or any sincerely 
held belief. That is reflected in the fact that we granted the majority 
of religious accommodation requests and medical accommodation requests. 
Employees seeking an accommodation under United's policy were required 
to submit their requests through Help Hub, a web-based portal 
maintained by United. Based on the information submitted, follow-up 
requests for information were issued, clarification questions were 
asked, or third-party attestations were requested.

    Question 3. How many of these applications for religious were 
granted?
    Answer. Over 2000 requests for religious and medical accommodations 
were granted. Please also refer to the vaccine policy answer to 
question No. 2 above.

    Question 4. During our hearing, Mr. Kirby indicated that United 
granted most of the requests for a religious accommodation. Prior to 
processing the accommodation request, were United's employees informed 
that this accommodation would be in the form of unpaid leave? Please 
provide the committee a sample of this notification.
    Answer. As described earlier, employees approved for an 
accommodation under our policy were provided various types of 
accommodations. For example, non-customer facing employees such as ramp 
service employees and mechanics have remained working in their regular 
positions, subject to masking and testing requirements. Information 
regarding temporary unpaid leaves of absence as an accommodation was 
communicated to employees the second week of September 2021, before the 
accommodation application process for employees closed.
    Furthermore, United's vaccine policy is in full compliance with all 
applicable laws, including Title VII. The policy was implemented in 
response to the grave risks posed by COVID-19. The data available at 
that time showed that unvaccinated individuals were about 50 times more 
likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than a vaccinated person, and 
nearly 300 times more likely to die. Before we implemented the policy, 
more than one United employee per week, on average, was dying of COVID-
19. Since our vaccine policy went into effect, the hospitalization rate 
among our employees has been 100 times lower than the general 
population. Based on United's prior experience and the nationwide data 
related to COVID fatalities among the unvaccinated, that means there 
are approximately 8-10 United employees who are alive today because of 
our vaccine requirement.
    In accordance with Federal law, our policy provides for religious 
and medical accommodations. United welcomed and carefully considered on 
a case by case basis all applications. Indeed, we went beyond the 
minimum legal requirements and accepted requests based on any valid 
medical ground (not just disability) and/or any sincerely held belief. 
That is reflected in the fact that we granted the majority of religious 
accommodation requests and medical accommodation requests. Employees 
seeking an accommodation under United's policy were required to submit 
their requests through Help Hub, a web-based portal maintained by 
United. Based on the information submitted, follow-up requests for 
information were issued, clarification questions were asked, or third-
party attestations were requested.
    At present, none of our accommodated employees are required to 
remain on unpaid leave; they all have other alternatives. Our ``non-
customer facing'' employees--including ramp service employees, 
mechanics, and other ``below the wing'' personnel--remain at work in 
their regular positions, subject to masking and testing requirements. 
Others, including customer service representatives, were transitioned 
to temporary assignments that do not require direct interaction with 
customers. Similar measures were not possible for flight crew--pilots 
and flight attendants--due to their unique working conditions as well 
as constraints imposed by union contracts and Federal regulations. As a 
result, they were placed on temporary unpaid leave, but they all have 
preferential consideration to available non-customer facing jobs at 
United. Because there are many open positions, there is abundant 
opportunity for accommodated employees on leave to apply for these 
roles and earn a paycheck.
                                 ______
                                 
      Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Ted Cruz to 
                              Scott Kirby
    Question 1. Mr. Kirby, during the hearing, we discussed United's 
COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Specifically, we discussed the impact the 
mandate is having on a number of United employees. I would like to get 
more information from you on that as well as some of the specifics of 
exactly when things occurred. On August 6, 2021 United announced it 
would require all employees to be fully vaccinated by October 25, but 
then pushed that deadline up to September 27 after the FDA fully 
approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine.
    Did United publish the process for requesting a religious or 
medical exemption at the same time it announced the vaccine mandate on 
August 6? If not, when did United publish the procedures for applying 
for a religious or medical exemption?
    Answer. United's vaccine policy is in full compliance with all 
applicable laws, including Title VII. The policy was implemented in 
response to the grave risks posed by COVID-19. The data available at 
that time showed that unvaccinated individuals were about 50 times more 
likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than a vaccinated person, and 
nearly 300 times more likely to die. Before we implemented the policy, 
more than one United employee per week, on average, was dying of COVID-
19. Since our vaccine policy went into effect, the hospitalization rate 
among our employees has been 100 times lower than the general 
population. Based on United's prior experience and the nationwide data 
related to COVID fatalities among the unvaccinated, that means there 
are approximately 8-10 United employees who are alive today because of 
our vaccine requirement.
    In accordance with Federal law, our policy provides for religious 
and medical accommodations. United welcomed and carefully considered on 
a case by case basis all applications. Indeed, we went beyond the 
minimum legal requirements and accepted requests based on any valid 
medical ground (not just disability) and/or any sincerely held belief. 
That is reflected in the fact that we granted the majority of religious 
accommodation requests and medical accommodation requests. Employees 
seeking an accommodation under United's policy were required to submit 
their requests through Help Hub, a web-based portal maintained by 
United. Based on the information submitted, follow-up requests for 
information were issued, clarification questions were asked, or third-
party attestations were requested.
    At present, none of our accommodated employees are required to 
remain on unpaid leave; they all have other alternatives. Our ``non-
customer facing'' employees--including ramp service employees, 
mechanics, and other ``below the wing'' personnel--remain at work in 
their regular positions, subject to masking and testing requirements. 
Others, including customer service representatives, were transitioned 
to temporary assignments that do not require direct interaction with 
customers. Similar measures were not possible for flight crew--pilots 
and flight attendants--due to their unique working conditions as well 
as constraints imposed by union contracts and Federal regulations. As a 
result, they were placed on temporary unpaid leave, but they all have 
preferential consideration to available non-customer facing jobs at 
United. Because there are many open positions, there is abundant 
opportunity for accommodated employees on leave to apply for these 
roles and earn a paycheck.

    Question 2. My understanding is that the process to request a 
religious accommodation initially required a third-party verification, 
to be submitted via a portal called Help Hub or some similar process, 
which was a form of attestation by someone who would vouch for the 
person's religious beliefs. Is this correct? If not, why not?
    Answer. Please refer to the vaccine policy answer to question No. 1 
above.

    Question 3. Further, I understand that this third-party 
verification or attestation requirement evolved over time. Initially a 
letter from a pastor or other spiritual leader was required, then at 
some point a letter from a third party was acceptable regardless of 
whether the individual was a member of the clergy, and then at some 
point United discontinued this third-party attestation feature 
altogether. Is this understanding correct?
    If so, please provide the date ranges which correspond to each 
iteration of the attestation requirement and, for each time the 
requirement changed, the reasoning for making that change. Please also 
explain how employees seeking a religious exemption were notified of 
the change each time. If specific correspondence exists that went out 
to employees, please provide an example of that.
    If not, please specify what is incorrect and provide an accurate 
timeline of how the process evolved, including any third-party 
verification or attestation requirements which were a part of that.
    Answer. Please refer to the vaccine policy answer to question No. 1 
above.

    Question 4. During each of these date ranges, how many requests 
were granted, and how many were denied?
    Answer. Over 2000 requests for accommodations were granted. Please 
refer to the vaccine policy answer to question No. 1 above for 
additional details.

    Question 5. As part of this process, were United employees also 
asked questions regarding their religious beliefs and how those beliefs 
pertained to receiving certain types of medical treatments such as 
certain vaccines and medications? If so, please provide the exact 
questions asked to employees seeking religious exemptions and how their 
responses to the questions were used.
    Answer. Please refer to the vaccine policy answer to question No. 1 
above.

    Question 6. What other measures did United take at any point in the 
religious accommodation process to probe the sincerity and specific 
beliefs of employees, and for what date range did United use each of 
these measures?
    Answer. As described earlier, depending on the original submission 
in support of an accommodation request, follow-up and clarification 
questions were asked. Please refer to the vaccine policy answer to 
question No. 1 above for additional details.

    Question 7. Does United regularly probe the sincerity of the 
beliefs of its employees in other matters? For example, does a Jewish 
employee need to provide a verification from their rabbi in order to 
avoid being scheduled to work on the Sabbath? Or does a Muslim employee 
need to provide verification from their imam in order to avoid being 
scheduled to work during Ramadan? If so, please specify exactly how 
United measures the sincerity of an employee's religious beliefs.
    Answer. In responding to requests for accommodations under Title 
VII or the ADA, United complies with all applicable laws and 
regulations. Follow-up requests for information to support 
accommodation requests are also in full compliance with applicable laws 
and regulations.

    1. Is it your understanding that requiring third-party attestation 
and probing the sincerity and specific attributes of your employees' 
religious beliefs are permitted under Title VII of the Civil Rights 
Act?
    Answer. United's vaccine policy is in full compliance with all 
applicable laws, including Title VII. Furthermore, the review and 
approval process for accommodation requests under this policy is in 
full compliance with all applicable laws, including Title VII.

    2. Are you aware of EEOC guidance or other authorities stating that 
such efforts are inconsistent with Title VII?
    Answer. United's policy is in compliance with EEOC guidance.

    3. On what date was the decision made to offer indefinite unpaid 
leave as the only religious accommodation? Who made that decision? How 
was that decision arrived at?
    Answer. At present, none of our accommodated employees are required 
to remain on unpaid leave; they all have other alternatives. Our ``non-
customer facing'' employees--including ramp service employees, 
mechanics, and other ``below the wing'' personnel--remain at work in 
their regular positions, subject to masking and testing requirements. 
Others, including customer service representatives, were transitioned 
to temporary assignments that do not require direct interaction with 
customers. Similar measures were not possible for flight crew--pilots 
and flight attendants--due to their unique working conditions as well 
as constraints imposed by union contracts and Federal regulations. As a 
result, they were placed on temporary unpaid leave, but they all have 
preferential consideration to available non-customer facing jobs at 
United. Because there are many open positions, there is abundant 
opportunity for accommodated employees on leave to apply for these 
roles and earn a paycheck.

    4. When employees were told to apply for a religious accommodation 
by a certain date, were they told prior to applying that the only 
accommodation that would be offered to them was unpaid leave? If not, 
why not?
    Answer. Temporary unpaid leave is not the only accommodation option 
that was made available to employees who were approved for 
accommodations under United's policy.

    5. My understanding is that there was a deadline to request a 
religious accommodation, and that for at least some employees, requests 
made after that point were denied as untimely. Is that correct? If so, 
how many such requests were denied?
    Answer. United's accommodation procedures included a reasonable 
deadline for submission of requests, which was fully compliant with 
Federal law. Furthermore, we granted the majority of religious 
accommodation requests and medical accommodation requests.

    Question 8. Mr. Kirby, as you know United made the decision to 
place a significant number of employees with approved exemptions on 
unpaid leave. You testified that ``. . . we've got about 2,000 
employees that have either medical or religious exemption the majority 
of those are working in positions . . . where they're outside and don't 
work with other customers and we're letting people do that.'' I just 
want to dig into this a little deeper.
    For the questions 9 through 22, as well as question 26, in addition 
to providing a topline answer please also provide a detailed breakdown 
of all job functions represented in the group (that is how many pilots, 
flight attendants, gate agents, mechanics, etc.) as well as where the 
employees are based geographically. For example, the answer to the 
question of ``how many United employees applied for a religious or 
medical exemption'' should be broken out as follows:

        The topline of: In total XXXX employees applied for a religious 
        or medical exemption, specifically XXXX applied for a religious 
        exemption and XXXX for a medical exemption.

        Then the job function breakdown of: Of the XXXX employees who 
        applied for a religious exemption, XXX were pilots, XXX were 
        flight attendants, XXX were gate agents, etc. Of the XXXX 
        employees who applied for a medical exemption, XXX were pilots, 
        XXX were flight attendants, XXX were gate agents, etc.

        Then finally a geographic breakdown of each job function for 
        each category of exemption applied for: For the pilots who 
        applied for a religious exemption, XX were based at IAD, XX 
        were based at IAH, etc. For the pilots who applied for a 
        medical exemption, XX were based at IAD, XX were based at IAH, 
        etc. For the flight attendants who applied for a religious 
        exemption, XX were based at IAD, XX were based at IAH, etc. For 
        the flight attendants who applied for a medical exemption, XX 
        were based at IAD, XX were based at IAH, etc.

    No answer needed.

    Question 9. How many United employees applied for a religious or 
medical exemption? Please break this answer down as specified in the 
instructions.
    Answer. Please refer to the vaccine policy answer to question No. 1 
above.

    Question 10. Did any United employees request both a medical and 
religious exemption? If so, how many were granted and how many were 
denied? Please break this answer down as specified in the instructions.
    Answer. Some employees requested both religious and medical 
accommodations under the policy. Please refer to the vaccine policy 
answer to question No. 1 above.

    Question 11. How many religious and medical exemptions were 
granted?
    Answer. Over 2,000 religious and medical accommodations were 
approved. Please also refer to the vaccine policy answer to question 
No. 1 above.

    Question 12. How many United employees to date have been fired for 
not complying with United's vaccine mandate?
    Answer. There are approximately 190 employees who did not comply 
with the policy and did not seek or were not approved for an exemption 
and accordingly have been separated from the company.

    Question 13. For the employees that have been fired for non-
compliance, how much Payroll Support Program (PSP) money do they 
represent? That is to say, what is the exact dollar amount of PSP 
funding United received to preserve these jobs before firing these 
employees for non-compliance?
    Answer. The grant portion of the PSP funds (which excludes the PSP 
funds that are to be repaid) covered 60 percent of the eligible pay and 
benefits through September 30, 2021.

    Question 14. Do these employees qualify for unemployment benefits? 
If this answer varies by location of the employees, please provide a 
specific breakdown of which employees qualify for unemployment benefits 
and where.
    Answer. United policy does not govern eligibility for state 
unemployment benefits.

    Question 15. What benefits, if any, do these employees retain? Do 
they retain their health insurance, for example, as they would if they 
had retired? Please provide a specific breakdown, by job function, of 
all benefits lost and retained.
    Answer. The benefits available to employees on a leave is dependent 
on the type of leave being taken and the terms of the applicable 
collective bargaining agreement governing the employee.

    Question 16. Is there any impact to the retirement planning, such 
as a reduction or elimination a pension plan, for employees fired for 
non-compliance with the vaccine mandate? Please provide a specific 
breakdown, by job function, of all such impacts.
    Answer. The benefits available to employees on a leave is dependent 
on the type of leave being taken and the terms of the applicable 
collective bargaining agreement governing the employee.

    1. How many United employees with a religious or medical exemption 
were moved into a non-customer facing role and are currently actively 
working in that role? Please also specify what their job function was 
before receiving the exemption, what their job function is now, and 
provide a complete list of which roles United considers customer-facing 
and which it considers non-customer facing.

    2. How many United employees with a religious or medical exemption 
are currently on unpaid leave?
    Answer. There are approximately 1,080 employees who are currently 
on a temporary unpaid leave of absence.

    Question 17. For the employees with a religious or medical 
exemption currently on unpaid leave, how much PSP money do they 
represent? That is to say, what is the exact dollar amount of PSP 
funding United received to preserve these jobs before placing these 
employees on unpaid leave?
    Answer. The grant portion of the PSP funds (which excludes the PSP 
funds that are to be repaid) covered 60 percent of the eligible pay and 
benefits through September 30, 2021.

    Question 18. While on unpaid leave, do these employees qualify for 
unemployment benefits? If this answer varies by location of the 
employees, please provide a specific breakdown of which employees 
qualify for unemployment benefits and where.
    Answer. United policy does not govern eligibility for state 
unemployment benefits.

    Question 19. Would an employee currently on unpaid leave, say a 
pilot for example, be able to earn income working for a different 
passenger or cargo air carrier while on unpaid leave? If not, why not? 
Please provide a breakdown, by job function, of any contractual 
limitations on a United employee's ability to earn income performing 
their same job function at a different passenger or cargo air carrier.
    Answer. Employees may apply for positions with other passenger 
airlines or cargo air carriers subject to compliance with any 
applicable United policies that govern outside employment.
    United has recently granted a number of such requests from 
employees on temporary unpaid leave.

    Question 20. What benefits, if any, do these employees retain? Do 
they retain their health insurance, for example, while on unpaid leave? 
Please provide a specific breakdown, by job function, of all benefits 
lost and retained while on unpaid leave.
    Answer. The benefits available to employees on a leave is dependent 
on the type of leave being taken and the terms of the applicable 
collective bargaining agreement governing the employee.

    Question 21. Is there any impact to the retirement planning, such 
as a reduction or elimination a pension plan, for employees put on 
unpaid leave? Are these employees able to access their retirement 
accounts, for example, while on unpaid leave? Please provide a specific 
breakdown, by job function, of all such impacts to retirement planning.
    Answer. The benefits available to employees on a leave is dependent 
on the type of leave being taken and the terms of the applicable 
collective bargaining agreement governing the employee. Yes, employees 
on temporary leave of absence may be eligible for multiple different 
types of early withdrawal options from their United 401k plan.

    Question 22. For those employees with a religious or medical 
exemption on unpaid leave, what is the average length of time, by job 
function, they have been on unpaid leave?
    Answer. Please refer to the vaccine policy answer to question No. 1 
above.

    Question 23. Do you think it is fair that you are not offering an 
accommodation that allowing your employees to continue making an income 
to support themselves and their families?
    Answer. At present, none of our accommodated employees are required 
to remain on unpaid leave; they all have other alternatives. Our ``non-
customer facing'' employees--including ramp service employees, 
mechanics, and other ``below the wing'' personnel--remain at work in 
their regular positions, subject to masking and testing requirements. 
Others, including customer service representatives, were transitioned 
to temporary assignments that do not require direct interaction with 
customers. Similar measures were not possible for flight crew--pilots 
and flight attendants--due to their unique working conditions as well 
as constraints imposed by union contracts and Federal regulations. As a 
result, they were placed on temporary unpaid leave, but they all have 
preferential consideration to available non-customer facing jobs at 
United. Because there are many open positions, there is abundant 
opportunity for accommodated employees on leave to apply for these 
roles and earn a paycheck.

    Question 24. In practical terms of supporting a family and 
maintaining a household--both economically and otherwise--how is your 
religious accommodation of unpaid leave any different from termination 
from employment at United Airlines?
    Answer. At present, none of our accommodated employees are required 
to remain on unpaid leave; they all have other alternatives. Our ``non-
customer facing'' employees--including ramp service employees, 
mechanics, and other ``below the wing'' personnel--remain at work in 
their regular positions, subject to masking and testing requirements. 
Others, including customer service representatives, were transitioned 
to temporary assignments that do not require direct interaction with 
customers. Similar measures were not possible for flight crew--pilots 
and flight attendants--due to their unique working conditions as well 
as constraints imposed by union contracts and Federal regulations. As a 
result, they were placed on temporary unpaid leave, but they all have 
preferential consideration to available non-customer facing jobs at 
United. Because there are many open positions, there is abundant 
opportunity for accommodated employees on leave to apply for these 
roles and earn a paycheck.
    In addition, employees on temporary unpaid leave continue to accrue 
seniority and retain rights to return to work as defined by applicable 
collective bargaining agreements, which is not true of employees who 
are terminated.

    Question 25. United Airlines cancelled flights on Christmas Eve, 
Christmas, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day, at least in part due to 
staff shortages. How many flights did United cancel for the period 
December 20, 2021 through January 4, 2022? Please break this down by 
day and airport as well.
   What was the loss of revenue from those cancellations?
    Answer.
    
    
    Approximately 8 percent of tickets originally booked on cancelled 
flights (including those operated by our partners doing business as 
United Express) have been refunded. In addition, we were able to re-
accommodate 77 percent of passengers, with the balance of tickets not 
yet rebooked or exchanged.

    Question 26. For each day for the period from December 20, 2021 
through January 4, 2022, how many employees was United short from 
necessary staffing levels? Please break this down by job function and 
geographic location.
    Answer. Toward the end of December, we started experiencing a high 
volume of COVID-related sick calls from our flight crew members. To 
mitigate this, we are taking a multiprong approach by adjusting our 
schedule up to 7 days in advance, allowing us to re-accommodate 
passengers with ample notice, reducing scheduled operations further out 
and offering economic incentives for non-affected crew members to pick 
up uncovered lines of flying.

    Question 27. It has been suggested that the number of pilots and 
flight attendants that United grounded for not taking the vaccine would 
have supplied the capacity to avoid, or at least significantly reduce, 
the number of flights United cancelled from December 20, 2021 through 
January 4, 2022. Per your answer to question #16, how many flights 
could the United employees currently on unpaid leave have collectively 
covered on the dates in question assuming they were all available to 
work during that period?
    Answer. Our crew reserves for December were in line, if not better 
than what we had during the same period in 2019. In that sense, we 
believe that the gross of the cancellations we experienced towards the 
end of December due to COVID infections would not have been materially 
reduced if pilots and flight attendants who are not vaccinated had been 
available to fly.

    Question 28. Was there any discussion about bringing the United 
employees with a religious or medical exemption who are currently on 
unpaid leave back to work to address the staffing shortages? If not, 
why not?
    Answer. Please refer to the answer above.

    Question 29. Breitbart News recently published an article that 
alleged United was using London-based flight crews, who are not 
mandated to be fully vaccinated, in December of 2021 and January of 
2022. Exactly how frequently does United use foreign-based flight crews 
in domestic operations? Please provide a breakdown of the domestic use 
of all foreign-based flight crews by United in December of 2021 and 
January of 2022 including the specific routes flows, where the foreign-
based flight crew is based, and whether, under the laws of that nation, 
the flight crew is subject to United's vaccine mandate and if not, what 
the vaccination status is of those flight crews.
    Answer. The information in the article was false. United's London-
based flight attendants were not and have not been used to augment 
staffing on our domestic schedules.

    Question 30. What is the process by which pilots from other 
airlines are able to ride in cockpit jumpseats on United flights, and 
does United check the vaccination status of these pilots before 
allowing them to ride in the cockpit jumpseat? Please be specific as to 
which pilots from which airlines may ride in cockpit jumpseats on 
United flights, and what the procedures are for a pilot to do that.
    Answer. United has reciprocal agreements with other airlines for 
flight deck Jumpseat for pilots. A requesting pilot's identity and 
eligibility is confirmed before Jumpseat Authorization is issued at the 
departure gate. If a cabin seat is available, the requesting pilot will 
receive a seat assignment and board the airplane without the need to 
occupy the flight deck Jumpseat.
    The Captain of the flight verifies the requesting pilot's 
credentials and has the discretion to grant or deny access to the 
flight deck Jumpseat with consideration to safety, security, and 
operational concerns.

    Question 31. For unvaccinated non-customer facing United employees, 
does United require they use an N95 mask or respirator? If so, what are 
the OSHA safety guidelines that outline the use of such equipment?
    Answer. Currently, accommodated non-customer facing employees in 
the operations are required to wear a KN95 mask. N95 respirators can be 
worn on a voluntary basis, but it is not required.

    Question 32. Have these United employees been properly trained and 
fitted for this equipment? If so, what is that training exactly?
    Answer. KN95 masks are not considered respirators and are not 
subject to OSHA respirator training requirements.

    Question 33. What specific policies does United have in place for 
these employees regarding disposal of masks and respirators, breaks off 
from having to wear the equipment, etc.?
    Answer. KN95 masks are single use masks, and can be discarded after 
use, soiled or wet. KN95 masks are not required when actively eating/
drinking. During prolonged meal and drinking periods, masks must be 
worn between bites and sips. Masks are not required in a closed room 
occupied by a single person, and while communicating with person who is 
deaf or hard of hearing, and when the ability to see the mouth is 
essential for communication.

    Question 34. Mr. Kirby, you have repeatedly said United's vaccine 
mandate is about ``safety,'' including when you were testifying 
recently. In this context, what precisely does that mean to you?
   Has that changed over time? If so, how?
    Answer. At United, we don't compromise on safety and the vaccine 
policy has always been about saving lives. Getting the vaccine is the 
best thing our employees can do to protect themselves and others from 
hospitalization or death.

    Question 35. What is the end goal of United's COVID-19 vaccine 
mandate? Would it be fair to characterize the end goal as developing, 
in all United employees, immunity to COVID-19?
    Answer. The end goal of our vaccine policy is to save lives and we 
know it is doing just that. Since our vaccine policy went into effect, 
the hospitalization rate among our employees has been 100 times lower 
than the general population. Based on United's prior experience and the 
nationwide data related to COVID fatalities among the unvaccinated, 
that means there are approximately 8-10 United employees who are alive 
today because of our vaccine requirement. Prior to our vaccine policy, 
tragically, more than one United employee on average per week was dying 
from COVID.

    Question 36. For the purposes of complying with United's vaccine 
mandate, is natural immunity, that is immunity gained from being 
infected with and subsequently recovering from COVID-19, accepted? If 
not, why not? Please be specific, and provide the full scientific 
rationale including any supporting medical or scientific literature.
    Answer. At the time it was implemented, the policy allowed, on a 
case by case basis, for certain employees who had contracted COVID-19 
to delay vaccination. The policy does not otherwise provide for 
exemptions based on natural immunity. Following CDC guidance, we 
believe vaccination is the best form of protection against COVID-19. A 
study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 
unvaccinated people who have had COVID-19 are more than twice as likely 
to be reinfected with the virus compared with people who were fully 
vaccinated after contracting the virus.

    Question 37. With the growing rate of breakthrough infections among 
the vaccinated, how exactly is it safer to require a vaccine than to 
require testing among both vaccinated employees and unvaccinated 
employees?
    Answer. United made the decision to require COVID-19 vaccines 
because those who are vaccinated have a significantly reduced risk of 
contracting a serious case of COVID that requires hospitalization or 
leads to death. While testing is certainly a tool to support a strategy 
aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19, it is not a replacement for 
vaccination. Testing only provides a snapshot in time of a person's 
COVID-19 status but does not provide the vaccine's reduction in risk of 
death or severe disease.

    Question 38. Would you acknowledge that as vaccine effectiveness 
percentages drop over time, and drop with regards to new variants like 
Omicron, that a general program of regular testing would be more 
effective statistically at detecting COVID infections, and thus 
preventing the spread of the disease?
    Answer. Being vaccinated against COVID-19 reduces the risk of 
developing serious illness or dying should a breakthrough case occur. 
While testing is an available tool to detect some cases, Omicron is 
spreading at such a rapid rate that testing alone will not stop the 
spread of the disease in the workplace.

    Question 39. Again, you have said this mandate is all about safety, 
and that things are most safe when everyone is vaccinated. Does United 
plan to require proof of vaccination for travelers? If so, when? If 
not, why not, and how do you justify requiring all United employees to 
be vaccinated but not requiring any of the travelers?
    Answer. United believes it is a government responsibility to 
determine eligibility requirements for traveling public. For example, 
the Federal government has now instituted a vaccine requirement for all 
international flights to the U.S., with limited exceptions, and we are 
in compliance with that. Our focus with our vaccine policy was to 
ensure the safety of our employees and our workplace.

    Question 40. Are there any other vaccines that United requires all 
employees to have as a condition of employment? If so, what vaccines 
and what has the religious and medical exemption process been for 
those? Please note that this is not intended to include vaccinations 
required by other nations to which United flies, such as yellow fever 
or polio vaccination requirements around the world, but rather solely 
to include those vaccines which United, on its own, requires employees 
to have as a condition of employment.
    Answer. Please refer to the vaccine policy answer to question No. 1 
above.

    Question 41. Under Part 5 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (14 CFR), part 121 air carriers, which includes United, are 
required to develop and implement a Safety Management System (SMS). Per 
the FAA's Advisory Circular 120-92B--Safety Management Systems for 
Aviation Service Providers--a quality SMS, as part of its foundation, 
should have ``policies and processes that foster open reporting while, 
at the same time, stressing the need for continuous diligence and 
professionalism. The organization should encourage disclosure of error 
without fear of reprisal, yet it should also demand accountability on 
the part of employees and management alike.'' Aside from the hardships 
placed on the employees fired over non-compliance with the vaccine 
mandate or those placed on employees with exemptions on unpaid leave, I 
have to wonder what kind of impact this mandate might be having on the 
safety culture at United.
    Has United done any research or assessment as to whether its 
vaccine mandate has impacted safety? This would include things like 
whether employees have a greater fear of reprisal for raising an issue 
or whether they feel less confident self-reporting something.
    Answer. United used its Safety Management System to assess the 
decision to implement a vaccine policy and did not find any negative 
impacts to the safety of the airline or United's safety culture. United 
continues to review voluntary safety reports for trends related to the 
vaccine policy and has not seen any data to indicate safety concerns.

    Question 42. Since instituting the vaccine mandate, have the rates 
of safety incidents changed at all? If so, how? Have there been any 
changes to observed safety incident? For example, has there been an 
increase of pilots making an unplanned deviation from the speed or 
altitude filed in their flight plan?
    Answer. No, we have not seen an increase in safety incidents since 
the vaccine requirement went into effect.

    Question 43. United Airlines recently announced the cancelled 
service out of 11 cities across the United States, including ending 
service to Easterwood Field Airport (CLL), in College Station, Texas, 
and Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport (GRK), in Killeen, Texas.
    Killeen and College Station play a vital role in support of 
national defense and national security. Killeen is home to Fort Hood, 
the Army's premier installation to train and deploy heavy forces. 
College Station is home to Texas A&M University, the Nation's largest 
Senior Military College, which continually commissions more officers 
into the United States Armed Forces each year than any other college 
outside of the Federal service academies.
    For both College Station and Killeen, what specific analysis did 
United undertake or use to justify ending service on January 3, 2022? 
Please provide supporting documentation, including future projections 
for enplanements, load factors, fuel costs, labor shortages, etc.
    Answer. United constantly evaluates the placement of aircraft 
across its route network to ensure proper alignment with consumer 
demand and market conditions. We constantly evaluate consumer demand 
and market conditions to provide our customers comprehensive global 
connectivity to places across small, mid-size, and large communities. 
United achieves this using seven strategically-placed U.S. hubs, 
including our substantial operating base at Houston George Bush 
Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
    The natural mobility of our assets and vast geographical scope of 
operations allows us to respond to changing consumer behaviors and air 
travel demand by redeploying aircraft to where there is most demand. 
Unfortunately, demand for United services at both College Station and 
Killeen have underperformed peer routes for some time. Specifically, 
the 2016-2019 occupancy of available seat miles, commonly referred to 
as load factor, was 60 percent and 66 percent for CLL and GRK, 
respectively. Load factor of other routes flown by similar regional 
aircraft was 82 percent during the same time. This underperformance at 
CLL and GRK has persisted throughout 2021 leading to the recent 
decision to end operations. Further exacerbating the situation has been 
significant industry capacity growth at nearby large city airports in 
Austin, Dallas, and Houston. For example, Austin-Bergstrom 
International Airport (AUS) is approximately an 80-mile drive from 
Killeen. Per current published schedules, departing seats from Austin 
are scheduled to increase from 663,000 in July 2016 to 1.3 million by 
July 2022, nearly doubling in size. This considerable increase has 
almost certainly attracted scores of customers from Killeen's passenger 
catchment area to use Austin instead of Killeen-Fort Hood Regional 
Airport. Material growth at Dallas and Houston presents a similar 
challenge at CLL. In addition, individual markets that are not 
sustainable for the long-term are even more difficult to sustain in 
light of the pilot shortage within the regional airline space.
    Aviation stakeholders such as airport authorities can access demand 
and load factor performance from U.S. Department of Transportation 
(DOT) reports including the ``Airline Origin and Destination Survey'' 
(DB1B) and ``Air Carrier Traffic and Capacity Data by Non-Stop Segment 
and On-Flight Market'' (T-100). Additionally, published schedules at 
nearby airports are available via sources such as OAG. While United 
seeks collaboration with its airport stakeholders, we also encourage 
them to proactively evaluate their performance versus other U.S. 
destinations utilizing these public data resources.
    We never want to end service in any of the communities we serve. 
Unfortunately, when market factors necessitate, we need to end service 
to ensure alignment with customer demand. United's Network Planning 
team and CLL leadership are in discussions regarding possible 
alternative options to serve CLL.

    Question 44. What conversations, if any, did United have with the 
Department of Transportation about ending service to College Station 
and Killeen prior to March 1, 2022, the end of the ``Minimum Air 
Services Guarantees'' requirements in Public Law 116-260? Please 
provide copies of any correspondence related to this matter.
    Answer. Throughout the pandemic, United complied with its minimum 
service obligations that stemmed from the CARES Act and its 
corresponding DOT Orders. In the CARES Act, Congress delegated its 
implementation of the minimum service obligations to DOT. With the 
Department's oversight and approval, United maintained service to more 
than 200 domestic airports beginning on April 7, 2020 and spanning 
throughout the first 18 months of the pandemic. The vast majority of 
this service could not have been maintained by United if it had not 
been for the financial assistance it received through the CARES Act. On 
September 30, 2021, the Department chose to no longer extend the 
minimum service obligations for all carriers. As a result, United has 
adhered to all conditions and requirements relating to the minimum 
service obligations in the CARES Act and imposed by the Department.

    3. What conversations, if any, did United have with local officials 
in College Station or Killeen regarding any underperformance issues 
prior to deciding to end service to these airports?

    4. Did United ever alert College Station or Killeen that it was 
possible these cities might lose air service in the future if 
enplanements or load factors did not improve? If so, when and what was 
the outcome of those discussions?

    5. Did United have any conversations with the Department of Defense 
(DOD) regarding the decision to end service to Killeen and consequently 
Fort Hood? If so, to what extent did United and DOD discuss the impact 
ending service might have on movement of members of the armed forces 
and their families to and from Fort Hood?

    6. Did United discuss, either internally or with key stakeholders 
including DOD, or otherwise consider the impact ending service to 
Killeen, and consequently Fort Hood, would have on military readiness 
and consequently national security? If so, please provide those 
communications. Additionally, please provide any analysis done weighing 
national security implications, such as the ability to move service 
members to and from Fort Hood, against the ``long-term sustainability'' 
of this route for United.
    Answer. Please refer to the answer to question No. 43 above.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to 
                             John Laughter
    Payroll Support Program Impact. Congress created the Payroll 
Support Program to protect the airline industry's workforce, support 
the continuity of safe and essential travel, and ensure the industry's 
ability to remain viable to meet future consumer travel demand. The 
Department of the Treasury disbursed a total of $54 billion to 
passenger airlines, across three rounds of PSP, to provide critical 
relief during the pandemic.
    We know that PSP made a difference in December 2020, when Congress 
extended the program, because airline recipients had to recall 
thousands of employees who were furloughed after September 30, 2020, 
when the first round of PSP ended.
    According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), between 
October 2020 and February 2021, major airlines hired or brought back 
28,179 workers. These workers came back just in time for the air travel 
rebound, which took off in March 2021. As of September 2021, airlines 
were approximately 8.8 percent below their pre-pandemic employment 
levels according to BTS data. I am interested in learning from your 
airline on how the Payroll Support Program impacted your workforce and 
operations. Mr. Laughter, Delta received $11.9 billion in PSP funds.

    Question 1. If not for PSP funding, what do you think the status of 
your workforce would look like today? Would your airline have been able 
to survive the pandemic, absent PSP funding?
    Answer. We are extremely grateful to the U.S. taxpayers and 
Congress for the support you have provided to our employees. It has 
made a tremendous difference and enabled Delta to preserve thousands of 
jobs. As you mention in your question, Delta received $11.95 billion in 
aggregate PSP funds. These funds were used for wages, salaries, and 
benefits of eligible employees. While Delta cannot say for certain what 
our workforce would look like without PSP support, we can state that we 
would not be as ready to accommodate the return of air travel demand. 
This point is particularly poignant as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 
continues to impact workforces across the globe.
    Without PSP funds, our airline almost certainly would not look like 
the Delta we have today.

    Question 2. Since receiving PSP funding, do you believe your 
airline is in a good position to meet current consumer travel demand?
    Answer. Yes, Delta is in a good position to meet current consumer 
travel demand. Recent flight disruptions that impacted the airline 
industry in late December 2021 and early January 2022 were largely due 
to adverse weather conditions and staffing absences due to the Omicron 
variant of COVID-19. By many measures, 2021 was Delta's best performing 
year, surpassing 2019. As the data provided in Tables 1-3 below 
demonstrate, in October and November of 2021, Delta flew more flights 
with fewer delays and fewer cancellations than December 2021 and 
January 2022.
    To address weather issues, Delta has implemented many measures over 
the past several years to improve service recovery, including advanced 
notification of bad weather, and weather waivers so customers can 
change their flights at no cost. Our operations leadership often 
activates our Peach Corps at hubs during significant disruptions to 
provide customers delayed at airports with food, drinks, and assistance 
with rescheduling. Delta is also unique in the industry as an employer 
of 25 meteorologists who provide 24-hour monitoring of weather across 
our operations. This team begins monitoring flights 5 days before 
departure and produces hourly forecasts 30 hours ahead of any flight.
    All airlines have been challenged by the Omicron chapter of the 
COVID pandemic, and Delta is no exception. Omicron is much more 
contagious than other versions of the virus, and this is reflected in 
both the broader number of U.S. COVID cases and in Delta's absenteeism 
rates over the past month. The U.S. has seen daily cases reported 
double to nearly 1 million on January 3, 2022. Delta saw its flight 
attendant and pilot absenteeism rates spike in late December. The 
flight attendant absenteeism rate early in December was just under 16 
percent higher than the same period in
    2020; by the end of the month, it had peaked at nearly 77 percent 
year-over year. The pilot absenteeism rate early in December was 
comparable to the same period in 2020; by the end of the month, it had 
peaked at nearly 14 percent year-over year. As cases of the Omicron 
variant have begun to subside, we believe that we are well staffed to 
meet demand.
    Delta has also continued to hire additional employees to meet 
increased demand. In 2021, we hired over 8,700 new employees--6,100 
Airport Customer Service agents, 625 new pilots, and over 1,000 flight 
attendants. We continue to bring on new employees as quickly as 
possible to avoid cancellations.
    To improve service to customers, we have implemented several other 
measures. Delta hired over 1,400 reservation agents last year to 
address heightened call volumes. We also improved the Fly Delta app and 
delta.com to make quick flight changes easier without waiting in line 
at the airport or on the phone. Despite weather challenges, Delta 
employees continue to provide industry leading performance with minimal 
cancellations and late arrivals.

    Airline Relationships with Labor. Congress focused on sustaining 
the airline workforce and ensuring continuity of operations during a 
time of intense uncertainty.
    From information shared with the Committee, it appears that those 
airlines and unions that worked together found solutions to COVID-19 
challenges, from addressing new health risks in the workplace to 
ensuring currency and qualification of a highly-skilled workforce.

    Question. How has your airline collaborated with unions to 
establish policies to meet workforce needs in response to the COVID-19 
pandemic? How did your airline's relationship with relevant labor 
unions enhance your ability to meet operational needs and the rise in 
air travel demand?
    Answer. At the core of Delta's strong, award-winning culture is a 
continuous focus on putting people first. We listen to our employees 
through a variety of feedback mechanisms and employee feedback has 
guided continuous investments in Delta people and how they support our 
customers.
    Maintaining a strong focus on our employees--both through the 
relationship we have with our pilot union and through the direct 
relationship with those employee groups that have chosen to remain non-
union--is something we prioritize at every level of leadership within 
Delta.
    During the pandemic, we worked with our pilot union to negotiate 
contractual agreements that outlined work rules, time away, and pay 
provisions related to the impact of COVID on our people and operation.
    We also worked directly with our ground and flight attendant 
employee involvement groups and Delta Board Council to receive 
feedback, which guided our decisions regarding paid time off due to 
COVID, voluntary leaves of absence, personal protective equipment, and 
the ability to offer convenient testing and vaccines for employees and 
their family members.
    We have been successful because of our people and taking care of 
them is our number one job. To help facilitate this goal, Delta created 
the Delta Board Council (DBC) in 1996, and it currently comprises one 
representative from each of Delta's major employee operating units: 
Airport Customer Service, Inflight Service, Management and 
Administrative employees, Reservation Sales, and Technical Operations. 
The DBC is tasked with holding employee meetings at every level below 
corporate director to gauge feedback and disseminate information.
    Employee Involvement Groups also exist within each of our major 
operating units and are much larger--from dozens to hundreds of 
employees per workgroup. They talk with their colleagues regularly and 
work on team-specific improvements based on employee feedback.
    Our strong culture of feedback and continuous improvement was 
maintained during the pandemic, with employee survey scores remaining 
above the benchmark for large corporations.

    Contract Workforce Role and Staffing. At the height of the 
pandemic, airport and aviation workers stood with airlines and called 
on the Federal government to make sure our national air travel system 
remained strong, aviation jobs were protected, and that airlines were 
ready to meet consumer travel demand.
    For decades, airlines have outsourced essential service airport 
jobs like cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, security officers, and 
baggage handlers to contractors at major airports across the country. 
Contract workers play a critical role in our aviation system and 
continue to work hard on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic to 
keep travelers safe.

    Question. How will your airline ensure that the contracted 
workforce, which provides such critical services, is stable, well-
trained, and has adequate staffing levels needed to respond to 
operational challenges?
    Answer. Our contractors have experienced significant attrition due 
to macro labor market pressure that has limited their ability to fully 
staff certain services. Cabin Cleaning, Wheelchair, and Ground Handling 
have been hit particularly hard. To address the contractor staffing 
challenges, we have onboarded approximately 1,400 new frontline Delta 
employees since May 2021 with the specific goal of supplementing 
business partners across our hubs for these services, particularly with 
respect to Cabin Cleaning.

    Airline Workforce Recall. The Committee is aware that, in 2020, 
airlines took varying approaches to temporarily reduce the number of 
active employees on their payroll to avoid involuntarily furloughing or 
laying off employees as they experienced growing pandemic-related 
financial difficulties. Many airlines offered employee programs to 
incentivize voluntary separations, including voluntary furloughs, early 
retirements, and temporary leaves of absences.
    Airlines that extended voluntary leave options to their employees 
reserved the right to recall such employees from leave when necessary. 
To the Committee's knowledge, most airlines started broad workforce 
recall efforts in the first quarter of 2021, employing particularly 
concentrated efforts to bring back employees in January and February 
2021. However, recalling employees has not been an easy process as 
airlines have reported higher workforce shortages and rates of 
absenteeism in certain workgroups, leaving the airlines more ill-
equipped to meet consumer travel demand.

    Question 1. Has your airline experienced challenges in recalling 
your workforce? If so, did your airline anticipate such issues in 
recalling employees from leave before initiating your recall efforts? 
Please describe the scope of the workforce recall challenges your 
airline faced in 2021.
    Answer. Delta has not had problems recalling our because we did not 
furlough or involuntarily terminate any employees. Nor has Delta had 
staffing shortages--by which we mean a lack of qualified candidates for 
open positions. Delta has had plenty of applications for the jobs we 
have posted. Delta has experienced COVID-19 staffing challenges as the 
virus has created significant volatility in demand and increased 
employee absences during the last month of 2021. COVID-19 has made 
forecasting demand and operational planning difficult at best, with 
absenteeism exacerbating the situation during December. Overall, we 
hired over 8,700 new employees in 2021--6,100 Airport Customer Service 
agents, 625 pilots, and 1,000 flight attendants to respond to the surge 
in passenger demand.

    Question 2. Has your airline's workforce fully returned as of 
January 1, 2022? How did the status of your workforce's recall from 
voluntary leave programs affect your airline's ability to meet consumer 
air travel demand in 2021?
    Answer. As of January 1, 2022, Delta's workforce has fully returned 
from long-term, nonquarantine, COVID-related leave. Other than the 
challenges that the Omicron variant presented, Delta was able to meet 
travel demand.
Airline Operational and Scheduling Data.
    Question 1. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
please provide the number of flights your airline operated, the number 
of flights cancelled, the number of flights delayed more than 15 
minutes, the number of flights delayed more than 90 minutes, and the 
number of flights delayed more than six hours.
    Answer.

                 Table #1--System Cancellations & Delays
                          October-December 2021
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             System Wide                October    November    December
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flights Cancelled                           700          63       3,274
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flights Operated                        130,645     127,255     124,308
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flights Scheduled                       131,345     127,318     127,582
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delay >= 15 minutes                      14,731      12,979      22,078
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delay >= 90 minutes                       2,928       2,394       5,209
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delay >= 360 minutes                        303         232         568
------------------------------------------------------------------------


               Table #2--Domestic Cancellations and Delays
                          October-December 2021
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Domestic System              October    November    December
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flights Cancelled                           673          56       2,995
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flights Operated                        122,380     119,176     115,181
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flights Scheduled                       123,053     119,232     118,176
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delay >= 15 minutes                      13,624      11,827      20,050
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delay >= 90 minutes                       2,742       2,248       4,848
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delay >= 360 minutes                        293         220         544
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Question 2. For the month of January 2022, please provide the 
number of daily flights your airline operated, the number of flights 
cancelled, the number of flights delayed more than 15 minutes, the 
number of flights delayed more than 90 minutes, and the number of 
flights delayed more than six hours.
    Answer.

                                     Table #3--System Cancellations & Delays
                                                  January 2022
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Flights      Flights      Flights      delay >=     delay >=     delay >=
               Date                  Cancelled     Operated    Scheduled      15 min       90 min      360 min
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/1/2022                                   380         2664         3044          686          142           22
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/2/2022                                   490         3919         4409         1549          327           13
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/3/2022                                   585         3824         4409         1336          291           20
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/4/2022                                   218         4124         4342         1075          196           19
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/5/2022                                   153         3925         4078         1066          215            6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/6/2022                                   275         3969         4244          687          159           20
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/7/2022                                   452         3791         4243         1061          296           21
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/8/2022                                    70         3359         3429          592          111           15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/9/2022                                    67         4109         4176          693          135            5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/10/2022                                   32         4379         4411          431           99            7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/11/2022                                   29         4072         4101          348           67            5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/12/2022                                   32         4127         4159          277           61            7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/13/2022                                   18         4409         4427          372           73            4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/14/2022                                   27         4412         4439          520          104           17
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/15/2022                                   32         3212         3244          421           67           10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/16/2022                                  497         2917         3414          548          114            7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/17/2022                                  153         4247         4400          815          177            8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                    Table #4--Domestic Cancellations & Delays
                                                  January 2022
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Flights      Flights      Flights      delay >=     delay >=     delay >=
               Date                  Cancelled     Operated    Scheduled      15 min       90 min      360 min
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/1/2022                                   360         2350         2710          606          127           21
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/2/2022                                   484         3572         4056         1441          310           12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/3/2022                                   571         3491         4062         1246          283           19
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/4/2022                                   200         3802         4002          993          182           18
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/5/2022                                   149         3612         3761          976          204            6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/6/2022                                   272         3653         3925          602          145           20
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/7/2022                                   433         3483         3916          970          270           21
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/8/2022                                    69         3020         3089          503           95           15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/9/2022                                    66         3788         3854          618          129            5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/10/2022                                   32         4056         4088          374           91            7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/11/2022                                   28         3756         3784          308           63            3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/12/2022                                   27         3815         3842          252           57            7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/13/2022                                   17         4092         4109          338           69            4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/14/2022                                   27         4085         4112          484          103           17
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/15/2022                                   28         2877         2905          353           58            9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/16/2022                                  480         2615         3095          489          105            7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/17/2022                                  122         3959         4081          760          169            5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Question 3. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
and January 2022, please detail any preemptive schedule changes that 
your airline made, including cancelling flights or changing the 
departure time by more than one hour.
    Answer. Any preemptive schedule changes made within 7 days of a 
flight are considered cancellations or delayed flights. Therefore, 
these flights would be included in the data from questions 2 and 3.
Airline Employment and Absenteeism Levels.
    Question 1. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
please provide the number of full-and part-time employees employed by 
your airline.
    Answer. At the end of each month, Delta employed:

                Table #4--Domestic Cancellations & Delays
                          October-December 2021
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        October    November    December
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Employees                      86,312      87,601      88,208
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Question 2. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
and January 2022, please detail any significant absenteeism problems 
experienced by your airline.
    Answer. For October and November 2021, there were no non-COVD-
related significant absentee problems experienced at Delta. Omicron is 
much more contagious than other versions of the virus, and this is 
reflected in both the broader number of U.S. COVID cases and in Delta's 
absenteeism rates over the past month and a half. The U.S. has seen 
daily cases reported double to nearly 1 million on January 3, 2022. 
Delta saw its flight attendant and pilot absenteeism rates spike 
towards the end of December 2021, and this continued into January 2022. 
The flight attendant absenteeism rate early in December was just under 
16 percent higher than the same period in 2020; by the end of the 
month, it had peaked at nearly 77 percent year-over year. The pilot 
absenteeism rate early in December was comparable to the same period in 
2020; by the end of the month, it had peaked at nearly 14 percent year-
over year.

    Voluntary Separation Programs. The Payroll Support Program 
prohibited any airlines that received Federal funding from conducting 
involuntary layoffs or furloughs. Nonetheless, in the wake of 
plummeting air travel demand in the spring of 2020, many airlines 
aggressively incentivized voluntary separation programs to reduce the 
cost of maintaining their workforce. These programs generally included 
voluntary leaves of absences, early retirements, and separation 
incentives.
    Given the reported challenges that many airlines faced as consumer 
travel demand began to rebound this summer, I am concerned that deep 
employee cuts left airlines unprepared to capture the returning demand.
    As reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission in July 2020, 
Delta Air Lines reduced its total headcount by over 45,000 workers--
approximately 40 percent of its workforce--through the use of a 
voluntary leave of absence program. Approximately 18,000 Delta 
employees left the company via early retirement and voluntary 
separation programs. During the Thanksgiving holiday that year, Delta 
cancelled hundreds of flights as it struggled with staffing shortages. 
Delta is not alone. American Airlines and Southwest have also cancelled 
hundreds of flights due to staffing challenges.

    Question 1. Did Delta's use of voluntary leave and separation 
programs contribute to its operational challenges? If so, how?
    Answer. No.

    Question 2. Have all of the employees who elected to take a leave 
of absence returned back to the airline? If not, why not?
    Answer. Yes, all employees who have elected to take a leave of 
absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic have returned or decided to 
permanently separate.

    Payroll Support Program Employee Salary and Wage Terms. Under the 
CARES Act, passenger air carriers collectively received $25 billion 
from the first round of the Payroll Support Program (PSP1). Air 
carriers could only use PSP funds to continue paying employee wages, 
salaries, and benefits. To preserve the pay and benefits of airline 
workers, the Payroll Support Program expressly prohibited airlines from 
reducing the hourly wages of their employees. Nonetheless, it has been 
reported that some airlines elected to reduce the number of hours their 
employees worked rather than their hourly rate of pay. The consequence 
for the airline employees, however, is the same: less pay.
    Delta Air Lines received approximately $5.59 billion in funding 
from PSP1, but it has been reported that Delta reduced employee hours 
and salaries from April to June 2020.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Delta Air Lines 
reduced the work hours of its ground workers and headquarter employees 
to ``three-or four-day work weeks in April [2020] and cut salaries by 
25 percent to trim payroll expenses.'' See: Kelly Yamanouchi, ``More 
than 21,000 Delta employees volunteer for unpaid leave, other workers' 
hours reduced,'' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 26, 2020, 
available at: https://www.ajc.com/blog/airport/more-than-000-delta-
employees-volunteer-for-unpaid-leave-other-workers-hoursreduced/
v3lmxHwpYMZ
rON8DYvsnxH/ and Kelly Yamanouchi, ``Delta to restore employees to full 
pay, hours,'' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 9, 2020, 
available at: https://www.ajc.com/news/business/delta-torestore-
employees-to-full-pay-hours/FE7NT2CB3RBZHILGFMZPFBBRH4/.

    Question 1. Did Delta reduce the hours or benefits for any of its 
employees during the effective period of the Payroll Support Program?
    Answer. Delta did not reduce employee benefits. Delta did reduce 
the hours of many employees by 25 percent, but there were several 
groups exempted from this reduction based on the needs of the 
operation, such as our Reservations and Care and Airport Customer 
Service teams, as well as some maintenance teams. Delta's pilots and 
flight attendants did not have a reduction in hours. Delta's Officers 
took a 50 percent pay cut except for the CEO, who announced in March 
2020 that he would forgo his salary and did forgo it through December 
2020.

    Question 2. If so, please explain how Delta views these reductions 
as consistent with the terms and objectives of the Payroll Support 
Program?
    Answer. Delta is in full compliance with the Payroll Support 
Program. All funds we received were used for wages, salaries, and 
benefits of eligible employees to protect jobs during the pandemic, in 
compliance with the terms of the PSP agreements.

    Consumer Refunds. In 2020, the Department of Transportation 
(``DOT'') received 29,687 refund complaints against U.S. airlines, a 
4,634 percent increase over 2019. And while the problem has started to 
get better, DOT still received 5,129 refund complaints in September 
2021, well above the 627 filed against U.S. airlines for all of 2019.
    DOT has a rulemaking in the Unified Agenda which says that it is 
looking at defining what constitutes a ``cancellation'' and a 
``significant delay''--the two things that entitle a customer to a 
refund. Currently, DOT lets airlines make their own determinations as 
to whether or not a flight is cancelled, and the number of hours that 
account for a ``significant'' delay.

    Question 1. In your view, how many hours does a flight have to be 
delayed before a passenger is entitled to a refund?
    Answer. Delta passengers are entitled to a full refund, regardless 
of fare class, if there is a flight cancellation, diversion, delay of 
greater than 120 minutes, or that will cause a passenger to miss 
connections.

    Question 2. If the reluctance to issue refunds was just an issue of 
preserving cash on hand, then why were refund complaints still so high 
in 2021?
    Answer. While we cannot speak for the industry, Delta has provided 
full refunds for all eligible travelers from the outset of the 
pandemic. At Delta, we believe that customer loyalty is a key driver of 
our success. In 2020, we processed more than 6.7 million refunds, 
totaling over $3 billion.
    We understand that passengers not eligible for a refund need 
additional flexibility as a result of the unpredictability stemming 
from the pandemic. Therefore, we went a step further and waived change 
fees and provided e-credits during 2020 and 2021 for Basic Economy and 
other nonrefundable tickets. We continually monitor pandemic 
developments and adjust our policies accordingly. More recently Delta 
announced that we are redoubling our efforts with another industry-
leading eCredit extension through year-end 2023. Effective Jan. 12, all 
existing eCredit holders will have an additional year of flexibility 
for rebooking and traveling. Customers will be able to rebook their 
ticket by December 31, 2023, for travel throughout 2024. Furthermore, 
all Delta customers with upcoming 2022 travel or who purchase a ticket 
in 2022 also have the flexibility to rebook their ticket through 
December 31, 2023, and travel throughout 2024, with no fee for most 
fare types.
    Delta's internal complaint data indicate we have received a higher-
than-normal volume of complaints during the 2021 holiday period. We 
expect many of these complaints are driven by the service disruptions 
due to weather and impacts of the Omicron variant, but unfortunately, 
we are still in the process of analyzing them, so we cannot share any 
detail at this time as each complaint is reviewed by the Department of 
Transportation (DOT) and airline staff. DOT's final resolution of each 
complaint is not published for approximately 2 months after any given 
month in the Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR). We are meeting DOT's 
guidance of responding to complaints within 60 days--our current 
average is 27 days.
                                 ______
                                 
 Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Richard Blumenthal to 
                             John Laughter
    Compensation for Consumers. Since March 2020, flight delays and 
cancellations have disrupted plans for countless travelers--and the 
most recent cancellations left people stranded in airports and away 
from family during the winter holiday season. Senator Markey and I have 
repeatedly called for full cash refunds for impacted consumers. But 
U.S. airlines have been slow to provide credits and legally-required 
refunds and have hidden behind vague ticketing policies. Media reports 
indicate that airlines are currently holding approximately $20 billion 
worth of travel vouchers and unrefunded ticket values.

    Question 1. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that Delta Air Lines currently owes consumers? Please provide the 
amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. At Delta, we believe that customer loyalty is a key driver 
of our success. During the pandemic Delta provided full refunds to all 
customers requesting a refund for an eligible ticket. In 2020, we 
processed more than 6.7 million refunds, totaling over $3 billion. For 
Basic Economy tickets and other non-refundable tickets, we waived 
change fees and provided e-credits during 2020 and 2021. During 2020 
and 2021, passengers accumulated a total of $6.9 billion in eCredits, 
with $2.7 billion outstanding at the end of 2021--this includes credits 
issued for all reasons, not just those related to the pandemic.
    We understand, however, that passengers who have remaining eCredits 
need additional flexibility as a result of the unpredictability 
stemming from the pandemic. We continually monitor pandemic 
developments and adjust our policies accordingly. During 2019, 2020, 
and 2021 Delta extended the expiration dates of e-credits to address 
this concern. More recently Delta announced that we are redoubling our 
efforts with another industry-leading eCredits extension through year-
end 2023. Effective Jan. 12, 2022, all existing eCredit holders will 
have an additional year of flexibility for rebooking and traveling. 
Customers will be able to rebook their ticket by December 31, 2023, for 
travel throughout 2024. Furthermore, all Delta customers with upcoming 
2022 travel or who purchase a ticket in 2022 also have the flexibility 
to rebook their ticket through December 31, 2023, and travel throughout 
2024, with no fee.
    Delta has also modified our broader policies to provide travelers 
with flexibility through the elimination of change and cancellation 
fees for all ticket fare classes except for Basic Economy--a change 
that reverts back to pre-pandemic policies. Customers may need to pay 
the difference in the cost of the ticket when they rebook for certain 
tickets. Details of our ticket cancellation and change policies can be 
found at this site on Delta.com.

    Question 2. Does Delta Air Lines gain revenue (such as from 
interest) from the value of unused travel vouchers that are currently 
held in company accounts? If so, how much revenue has Delta Air Lines 
collected from the funds in your accounts that are linked to unused 
travel vouchers since March 2020?
    Answer. Interest on unused travel voucher revenue has some level of 
impact on revenue; however, the cumulative effect is minimal, so we do 
not track this information.

    Question 3. If Delta Air Lines still owes consumers under Question 
1, by when will it have completed issuing its refunds? What is the 
reason for this delay?
    Answer. All Delta customers who have requested a refund for an 
eligible ticket have been issued a refund or their refund is currently 
being processed by Delta. Delta is currently processing eligible 
credits and refunds within 7 business days. Tickets paid in cash or by 
check are refunded in the form of a check to the person named as the 
passenger on the ticket, typically within 20 days of Delta's initial 
receipt of the credit/refund request. Eligible tickets paid for by a 
credit card will be refunded to the original form of payment, typically 
within 7 business days of Delta's initial receipt of the credit/refund 
request.

    Question 4. Delta Air Lines reportedly cancelled more than 450 
flights in the last week. How many consumers were impacted by these 
cancellations?
    Answer. Due to weather and the Omicron variant, Delta has had to 
cancel 4,606 flights between December 15 and January 4. These flight 
cancellations impacted 368,141 customers. 261,742 of these passengers 
were rebooked within an average delay of 12 hours and 49 minutes. As 
compensation for these delays, Delta provided more than $8 million in 
eCredits and 1 billion SkyMiles to impacted passengers.

    Question 5. Will Delta Air Lines commit to providing full cash 
refunds to all impacted consumers? If not, explain why not and what 
compensation you will issue to consumers.
    Answer. Delta has and will continue to provide full refunds to 
passengers who are eligible for refunds upon request. In recognition of 
pandemic impacts, we also have provided additional flexibility for 
passengers who decide not to purchase refundable tickets. More recently 
Delta announced that we are redoubling our efforts with another 
industry-leading eCredit extension through year-end 2023. Effective 
Jan. 12, all existing eCredit holders will have an additional year of 
flexibility for rebooking and traveling. Customers will be able to 
rebook their ticket by December 31, 2023, for travel throughout 2024. 
Furthermore, all Delta customers with upcoming 2022 travel or who 
purchase a ticket in 2022 also have the flexibility to rebook their 
ticket through December 31, 2023, and travel throughout 2024, with no 
fee for most tickets.

    Question 6. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that Delta Air Lines owes consumers for these cancellations? Please 
provide the amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. During 2020 and 2021, passengers accumulated a total of 
$6.9 billion in eCredits, with $2.9 billion outstanding at the end of 
2021--this includes credits issued for all reasons, not just those that 
are pandemic related.

    Question 7. By when does Delta Air Lines plan to have fully 
reimbursed consumers?
    Answer. Delta has and will continue to provide full refunds to 
passengers who are eligible for refunds upon request. Delta is 
currently processing eligible credits and refunds within 7 business 
days. Tickets paid in cash or by check are refunded in the form of a 
check to the person named as the passenger on the ticket, typically 
within 20 days of Delta's initial receipt of the credit/refund request. 
Eligible tickets paid for by a credit card will be refunded to the 
original form of payment, typically within 7 business days of Delta's 
initial receipt of the credit/refund request. In recognition of the 
impacts the pandemic has had, we have provided additional flexibility 
for passengers who decide not to purchase refundable tickets. During 
2020 and 2021 we also provided travel credits to passengers with Basic 
Economy fares--credits to which they are not contractually entitled. 
Further, Delta has recently extended the eCredit expiration date to 
December 31, 2023, for all tickets purchased or expiring in 2021. This 
extension will not require a fee for all tickets except for basic 
economy fares.

    Question 8. Please explain the causes of the recent flight 
cancellations as well as the steps that Delta Air Lines is implementing 
to prevent a repeat of these cancellations.
    Answer. The flight disruptions experienced by the airline industry 
in late December 2021/early January 2022 are largely the result of 
adverse weather conditions and staffing absences resulting from the 
Omicron variant of COVID-19.
    Delta operations have during that time were significantly impacted 
by winter weather, including at most of our major U.S. hubs. To address 
weather issues, Delta is unique in the industry as an employer of 25 
meteorologists who provide 24-hour monitoring of weather across our 
operations. This team begins monitoring flights 5 days before departure 
and produces hourly forecasts 30 hours of ahead of any flight.
    All airlines have been challenged by the Omicron chapter of the 
COVID pandemic, and Delta is no exception. The Omicron variant is much 
more contagious than other versions of the virus, and this is reflected 
both by the broader number of U.S. COVID cases and in Delta's 
absenteeism rates over that time. The U.S. saw daily cases reported 
double to nearly 1 million on January 3, 2022. Delta's flight attendant 
and pilot absenteeism rates spiked leading up to this date. In early 
December, the flight attendant absenteeism rate was just under 16 
percent higher than the same period in 2020; however, by the end of the 
month it had peaked at nearly 77 percent year-over year. The pilot 
absenteeism rate early in December was comparable to the same period in 
2020, but by the end of the month it peaked at nearly 14 percent year-
over year.
    To minimize the spread of the virus among our employees, Delta 
partnered with Georgia to host the state's largest COVID vaccination 
site to support the state's vaccination program. Over 117,000 vaccines 
were administered at the site, located at Delta's headquarters. We 
continue to offer COVID testing and vaccinations to our U.S.-based 
employees, free of charge. These efforts resulted in more than 90 
percent of our employees being vaccinated.
    Delta has also continued to hire additional employees to meet 
increased demand. In 2021 we hired over 8,700 new employees--6,100 
Airport Customer Service agents, 625 new pilots, and over 1,000 flight 
attendants. We continue to onboard new employees as quickly and safely 
as possible to avoid cancellations.
    To improve service to impacted customers, we have implemented 
several measures. Delta hired over 1,400 reservation agents last year 
to address heightened call volumes. We also improved the Fly Delta app 
and delta.com to make quick flight changes easier without waiting in 
line at the airport or on the phone. Despite weather challenges, Delta 
employees continue to provide industry leading performance and customer 
service.

    Question 9. Does Delta Air Lines maintain interline agreements with 
other carriers to allow passengers affected by disruptions an alternate 
means of getting to their destinations? If not, why not?
    Answer. Yes.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Brian Schatz to 
                             John Laughter
    Question 1. The Hawaiian Tourism Authority has made available 
public service videos to educate the public about being respectful 
tourists when they visit Hawaii.*

   In what ways are these videos made available to Hawaii-bound 
        travelers on your aircraft?

   Is one or more of these videos mandatory in some form for 
        in-bound Hawaii travelers using in-flight entertainment?

   If not, what hardware, software or policy barriers prevent 
        the videos from being made mandatory?

   Will you commit to making these videos mandatory for all 
        Hawaii-bound travelers using in-flight entertainment within the 
        next six months?

    *Videos available here: https://www.youtube.com/c/gohawaii
    Answer. These videos are currently available for optional viewing 
through a browser on our in-flight entertainment options but are not 
mandatory. We welcome working with the Hawaiian Tourism Authority to 
support their efforts.

    Question 2. The 2018 FAA reauthorization directed the agency to 
establish minimum seat sizes. There was an acknowledgement at the time 
that tighter seats and cramped quarters were causing conflicts between 
passengers and a potential safety hazard if there was an emergency. 
That seems even more important today. Most of the airline industry 
opposed the measure and the last administration failed to advance the 
rulemaking.

   Do you oppose minimum seat size standards?

   Do you believe the FAA should finalize regulations on 
        minimum seat dimensions?

    Answer. The safety of Delta's passengers and employees will always 
be our number one priority. Accordingly, Delta supports all efforts to 
identify and mitigate safety risks, including ensuring aircraft are 
designed in a manner that meets safety requirements for passenger 
evacuations.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Jacky Rosen to 
                             John Laughter
    Jet Fuel Supply. In July of this year, Reno-Tahoe Airport, the 
second largest airport in Nevada, faced a severe shortage of jet fuel 
available for aircrafts flying out of the airport. This was a 
potentially catastrophic issue that could have adversely impacted tens 
of thousands of travelers coming to and from Nevada and risked delays 
in vital cargo coming to the state. We have since learned that jet fuel 
shipments are based on travel trends from the previous year to decide 
how much jet fuel pipeline space they need to purchase in order to meet 
current travel demand. But in 2020, demand was artificially low, as we 
dealt with an unpredictable global pandemic that completely halted air 
travel. As such, the data on air travel trends for 2020 was not a 
reliable gauge for predicting air travel demand in 2021, or the jet 
fuel necessary to accommodate that demand. Fortunately, my office, in 
partnership with the airport and impacted airlines, worked together to 
manage the situation. However, we must be better prepared to face 
similar situations in the future--it was jet fuel this time, but one 
could easily imagine relying on past year's numbers to determine future 
demand for staffing, scheduled flights, or supply purchases--
potentially with serious negative effects.

    Question. Mr. Laughter, would you please briefly discuss what Delta 
Air Lines is doing to ensure that you have sufficient jet fuel supply 
to meet demand for travel in 2022, which may very well significantly 
exceed travel in 2021? And can you discuss how you make predictions for 
future air travel demand, generally, given that 2020 was a statistical 
anomaly?
    Answer. Fuel costs are one of the largest and most difficult to 
predict expenses for the airline industry. This is why, in 2012, we 
purchased our own refinery to help provide some predictability for 
Delta. As you point out, predicting demand for jet fuel has been 
incredibly difficult due to the volatile impact the pandemic has had on 
demand. At Delta, we have short and long-term flight schedule forecasts 
that we utilize to understand and plan for our fuel supply needs by 
airport. We then work with our suppliers to coordinate that the right 
amount of supply is available at the airports. We share your optimism 
for travel in 2022 and are projecting strong demand, particularly after 
the first quarter. We are basing operational decisions on this 
forecast.
                                 ______
                                 
  Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Raphael Warnock to 
                             John Laughter
    Crew Safety. The Payroll Support Program has been a critical tool 
for protecting airline workers' jobs throughout the pandemic. Most of 
the airlines testified to the various policies and programs they have 
implemented to help protect passengers and prevent further spread of 
the coronavirus. However, testimony was also given about the terrible 
harassment and violent abuse airline crew members have faced at an 
alarming rate since the beginning of the pandemic. The Federal Aviation 
Administration and Department of Justice, under the Biden 
Administration have stepped up enforcement and prosecution efforts 
related to unruly passengers.

    Question. What is your airline doing to protect your employees' 
physical health and wellbeing--not just against COVID, but unruly 
passengers, as well?
    Answer. Our number one priority at Delta is the safety of our 
passengers and our employees. As our CEO stated last year, ``Respect 
and civility to others on our planes, at our airports, in our 
workplaces, and in our society--even when we have differences of 
opinion--have always been a requirement for our people and our 
customers. Those who refuse to display basic civility to our people or 
their fellow travelers are not welcome on Delta. Their actions will not 
be tolerated, and they will not have the privilege of flying our 
airline.''
    In the face of a growing number of unruly passenger incidents that 
escalate into physical attacks to our frontline workers and other 
passengers, Delta took immediate action to protect our employees and 
passengers. We reviewed our training, policies, and procedures to make 
sure they addressed the current reality.
    We made sure our crews and gate agents received de-escalation and 
self-defense training. We also provided time off should unruly 
passenger incidents require legal and court proceedings. We also make 
sure that employees have appropriate support and time off for self-
care. We engaged with pilots, flight attendants, gate agents, and other 
employees to be sure they have the tools to provide safe flights.
    Delta took the initiative to ban unruly passengers, provide 
information to law enforcement, and called for other airlines to share 
passenger information of those passengers placed on their no fly lists. 
Delta has also remained engaged in advocating with FAA, TSA, and DOJ to 
use their authority to enforce civil and criminal cases reported to 
these agencies.
    On the COVID front, Delta has led the industry by establishing 
rigorous cleaning and safety protocols on the ground and in the air, 
blocking of middle seats through April 30, 2021, facilitating contact 
tracing for inbound international passengers, and implementing mask 
requirements for all passengers and crew.
    Early in the onset of the pandemic, we partnered with the world-
renowned Mayo Clinic, whose experts advised us on employee testing, 
strategies for cleanliness, and operational tactics to reduce the 
transmission of the virus. These efforts led to the establishment of 
our Global Cleanliness Division, which sets a new standard of 
cleanliness for our customers, known as the Delta CareStandard 
SM. In a first for the U.S. airline industry, we hired Mayo 
Clinic's Dr. Henry Ting as our Chief Health Officer to oversee our 
efforts and ensure they are based on rigorous scientific research. Dr. 
Ting is also responsible for leading our efforts to reimagine Delta's 
efforts to ensure the physical and mental health and well-being of our 
employees. All of these efforts protect our customers and our 
employees.
    Operationally, we created a dedicated team of more than 100 Clean 
Ambassadors to oversee our Global Cleanliness Division's goal of 
increasing the number of cleaning crews and implementing the DeltaCare 
Standard at more than fifty airports. We also partnered with the makers 
of Lysol and Purell to ensure each flight complies with our extensive 
preflight cleaning checklist and that all our planes include hand 
sanitizer stations and provisional Purell disinfecting wipes for each 
passenger. Additionally, we continue to electrostatically spray our 
aircraft interiors with high-grade disinfectant and use HEPA air 
filters to remove 99.99 percent of airborne particles on-board.
    As part of our broader efforts to protect our customers and our 
employees, Delta partnered with Georgia to host the state's largest 
COVID vaccination site to support the state's vaccination program. Over 
117,000 vaccines were administered at the site, located at Delta's 
headquarters. Overall, Delta has spent more than $25 million to promote 
and administer a total of 151,000 vaccines to Delta employees and 
members of the public. We continue to offer COVID testing and 
vaccinations to our U.S.-based employees, free of charge. These efforts 
resulted in more than 90 percent of our employees being vaccinated.
    Delta remains committed to continuing our collaboration with 
industry and government partners to ensure the safety and security of 
those traveling.

    Voluntary Separation Programs & Rebuilding the Workforce. The 
Payroll Support Program was able to keep hundreds of thousands of hard-
working Americans--including many Georgians--on the job throughout the 
pandemic. However, no one Federal program could make up for all the 
losses or solve all the challenges inflicted upon the airline industry 
by the pandemic. And airlines had to adjust. As a result, we saw the 
airline workforce reduced significantly--mostly through voluntary 
separation and early retirement packages offered by airlines.

    Question 1. Could you expound on the need for these programs and 
how you worked with your employees to implement them?
    Answer. The pandemic presented an extraordinary challenge to Delta 
and other airlines. In 2020, passenger volumes dropped by as much as 95 
percent by the end of March. At one point, Delta had a cash burn rate 
of almost $90 million per day. For the entire year, Delta lost $12.4 
billion, the largest loss in our history.
    Thankfully, Congress acted by creating the Payroll Support Program 
(PSP). There is no doubt that this support saved tens of thousands of 
airline jobs and allowed the industry to be better prepared for the 
recovery.
    However, since no one could predict how long the pandemic would 
endure, Delta made efforts to make the PSP funds last as long as 
possible, precisely to protect Delta people and preserve jobs. To get 
through this difficult time, we had to respond quickly and 
strategically. We took decisive action to preserve jobs by reducing our 
cost base and protecting liquidity. We worked with employees, in full 
compliance with the PSP, to find the best path for each employee. 
Thousands of our people volunteered to take unpaid leaves of absence. 
Some elected an early retirement option. In March of 2020, our CEO 
announced he would forgo his salary in 2020 and salaries of Delta 
officers were reduced by 50 percent.
    This approach was part of Delta's strong culture that values 
sharing sacrifices needed during difficult times, while also sharing 
the benefits during the good times through our profit-sharing program. 
While we will not be profitable for the full year of 2021, we were 
profitable in the 3rd and 4th quarters, and recently announced we will 
be distributing 20 percent of these profits--approximately $100 
million--to employees. This generally amounts to about $1,250 for each 
employee hired prior to July 1, 2021; employees hired after July 1, 
2021, will receive a $625 payment. This payment is in addition to the 
$850 earned through the Shared Rewards program for 2021.

    Question 2. How did these programs allow you to invest in and 
support your employees?
    Answer. We are also grateful to Congress for their support of the 
CARES Act, and subsequent relief packages, which included vital support 
for Delta's employees through the PSP. This pandemic has affected all 
of us in profound ways, and our industry has faced unique challenges. 
The PSP enabled Delta to preserve thousands of jobs that would 
otherwise have been lost. In full compliance with the terms governing 
the PSP, Delta used the PSP funds exclusively to pay wages, salaries, 
and benefits of PSP-eligible employees.

    Question 3. As air traffic has begun to bounce back, what are your 
plans for rehiring and rebuilding your workforce?
    Answer. We have hired more than 8,700 new employees since the 
beginning of 2021--6,100 Airport Customer Service agents, 625 new 
pilots, and over 1,000 flight attendants. Throughout 2021, Delta's 
Reservations and Care team hired over 1,400 specialists to improve long 
customer support wait times. We expected the recovery to be choppy as 
we have recently seen with the Omicron variant, and we continue to 
monitor demand closely and adjust our hiring goals accordingly.
    Collectively, these recent hires demonstrate Delta's strong 
commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. To achieve these goals, 
Delta has removed the traditional 4-year degree requirement from 93 
percent of its jobs and is currently adopting a skills-first hiring and 
promotion approach for more of its jobs, which emphasizes the specific 
competencies a candidate needs to be successful in the role. Delta will 
focus on three talent pathways to fill middle-skill roles, including: 
hiring external black talent from talent providers and community & 
technical colleges; promoting internal talent from our front line into 
middle-skill merit (support and leadership) positions; and from our new 
apprenticeship program. While starting with an emphasis on careers and 
building a talent ecosystem, Delta has a greater aim is to shatter 
systemic barriers and create economic opportunities for Black families 
in America.
    Delta also established the Delta Propel Pilot Career Path Program 
in 2018 to identify, select, and develop the next generation of pilots, 
allowing us to enhance the diversity of the candidate pool and support 
a more inclusive selection process. This industry leading program 
complements the traditional, existing paths to becoming a Delta pilot 
and has three main areas of focus--college, company and community. This 
three-pronged approach will help Delta support future aviators as well 
as current Delta employees who have a passion for aviation and strong 
interest in becoming a Delta pilot. The Propel Program supplements 
Delta's current recruiting structure, which includes recruiting and 
hiring pilots currently flying in the airline, military, and corporate 
sectors.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Roger Wicker to 
                             John Laughter
    Question. One condition of the Payroll Support Program was that 
recipients of the funds were required to continue air service to the 
communities they previously served, unless a waiver was received from 
the Secretary of Transportation. However, with the expiration of PSP 
and passenger travel on the rebound airlines are beginning to make 
adjustments to their service routes, and there are concerns smaller 
communities will bear a brunt of the cuts. According to a recent news 
article, Delta Air Lines intends to cut service to seven routes to 
three small communities. United Airlines announced last month they will 
be pulling out of eleven small communities, all serviced by regional 
airline partners.
    Several airlines have announced cuts in service to small 
communities in the last month or so. As I am sure you are aware, small 
communities rely on their air service to connect them to the rest of 
the country. In light of recent service cuts to small communities can 
you assure us that air service to small and rural communities will 
remain at or above pre-COVID levels once your networks return to those 
same levels?
    Answer. The pandemic continues to present an extraordinary 
challenge to Delta and other airlines. At the beginning of the crisis, 
travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders were effective at slowing 
the spread of the virus, but severely impacted demand for travel. In 
2020, passenger volumes dropped by as much as 95 percent by the end of 
March. Travel rebounded during the recent holiday season, approaching 
84 percent of 2019 levels. This demonstrates how much volatility the 
virus creates for the industry. The Omicron variant of COVID has 
continued this uncertainty into 2022. Delta will continue evaluate 
markets and adjust to the changing travel patterns and demands of our 
customers. As demand for travel returns to pre-pandemic levels Delta 
will be there to support our customers' needs.
                                 ______
                                 
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Shelley Moore Capito to 

                             John Laughter
    Question 1. Based on today's testimonies, domestic commercial 
aviation is on the rebound. According to the TSA, just under 21 million 
travelers were screened during the 10-day Thanksgiving holiday. That is 
near the 2019 record of 26 million travelers for the same period. Do 
you anticipate passenger travel to be at or near 2019 levels for the 
Christmas season?
    Answer. We expected travel to continue to grow toward the volume 
the industry saw in 2019. From the period of December 15, 2021 to 
January 4, 2022 the TSA screened just under 84 percent of the number of 
travelers compared to the same period 2 years previous. This period saw 
an average of 1.9 million daily passengers compared to 2.3 million from 
2 years previous.\1\ We expect to see a slight downward trend due to 
the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in January and February but expect 
travel to rebound during the remainder of 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ TSA checkpoint travel numbers (current year versus prior 
year(s)/same weekday) | Transportation Security Administration

    Question 2. Have you seen an increase in airfare over the past 
couple months? If so, what do you contribute for this increase?
    Answer. We have not seen an increase. Ticket prices dropped 
drastically during the pandemic, especially during 2020 as passenger 
volumes dropped by as much as 95 percent. The prices that passengers 
are seeing now are a partial return to 2019 levels. However, on 
average, ticket prices are still lower than 2019. Fares have 
consistently fallen since 1978, and given the competitive environment 
in aviation, we expect they will continue to fall over time.

    Question 3. In 2018, Congress passed a bipartisan five-year 
reauthorization of the FAA. In the near future, Congress will have to 
consider and debate policy in order to reauthorize the FAA before 2023. 
An important component of the reauthorization will be the FAA's Next 
Generation Transportation System (NextGen) initiative and its 
deployment. The success of this initiative is entirely dependent on how 
quickly the FAA and aircraft operations can fully implement NextGen. 
Could you each discuss some of the investments your airlines have made 
in implementing NextGen?
    Answer. Delta has made substantial investments in new aircraft and 
avionics equipage for existing aircraft. There are significant 
investment challenges for airlines that have ``middle-aged'' regional 
aircraft where there are neither the resources nor a business case to 
justify the investment. Moreover, we actively participate in several 
FAA forums such as the NextGen Advisory Committee to push modernization 
forward. However, the FAA needs to begin delivering benefits to justify 
the investments the airlines and the agency have made. We recognize 
modernization is incredibly complex and difficult--NextGen requires 
implementing several complex programs simultaneously--all while 
continuing to operate the existing system.
    The current situation is analogous to buying a new iPhone--when you 
upgrade from an iPhone 7 to an iPhone 12, you expect better performance 
and additional benefits from the upgrade. While FAA has implemented 
much of the foundational infrastructure to modernize the ATC system, 
they have not integrated the new capabilities in a manner which 
improves performance and provides additional benefits to its users. To 
extend the analogy, the aviation industry and the government have paid 
for the new iPhone, but it hasn't come with the upgraded applications 
that provide additional functionality--such as texting and GPS 
mapping--that provide substantial benefits and justify the billions in 
investments.

    Question 4. In your opinion, what are some of the current barriers 
to NextGen implementation?
    Answer. There are three main areas that create barriers to NextGen 
implementation. The first is improving coordination between industry 
and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The National Airspace 
(NAS) is a system, and the FAA needs to ensure that new technology is 
implemented in a manner that provides benefits to all of its users. 
While the FAA has made significant progress implementing the physical 
infrastructure and basic programming required to modernize its air 
traffic control system (ATC), it needs to execute on developing the 
tools needed for airlines and other users to realize significant 
benefits. This is best done through robust engagement with the industry 
to prioritize implementation.
    The second barrier is equipping regional jets with updated avionics 
so they can take advantage of advanced procedures that produce 
significant benefits. Currently, there is just not an economic case to 
be made to equip these aircraft with such updated avionics. Moreover, 
the full safety and efficiency benefits of NextGen cannot be realized 
until all operators in the system are appropriately equipped.
    Finally, the FAA needs long-term funding stability and management 
flexibility to effectively implement NextGen. Implementing ATC 
modernization is a complex, multi-decade, and sophisticated 
infrastructure program. This requires long-term decision-making and 
investment that is difficult to support within the context of the 
annual appropriations process that has been broken for years and often 
includes policy riders that undermine NextGen's progress.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Jerry Moran to 
                             John Laughter
    Question. As you continue working to restore and rebuild your 
network and schedule to pre-pandemic levels, can you comment on the 
role the 737 MAX will play in your efforts?
    Answer. Delta Air Lines does not operate the 737MAX, nor do we have 
any on order.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Rick Scott to 
                             John Laughter
    Question 1. Last year, the American taxpayers bailed out the 
airline industry with nearly $54 billion in tax dollars, while many 
small and medium-sized businesses closed their doors for good. Your 
company entered agreements with the U.S. Treasury with the promise of 
return on the taxpayers' investment. Can you provide an update on what 
kind of return on investment the American taxpayers can expect?
    Answer. First, thank you and Congress for the support that Delta 
received during the pandemic. The PSP saved thousands if not tens of 
thousands of jobs at Delta. Retaining these jobs and these employees 
has been key as demand for travel has begun to recover. Delta's use of 
PSP funds has provided both a direct and indirect return on investment.
    The direct return on investment has been jobs saved by the program. 
Dr. Tretheway testified to the specifics of the number of jobs impacted 
and the economic scope of the impact at the hearing. He cited figures 
that show that hundreds of thousands of jobs are directly related to a 
reliable airline industry. He also contended that because of the 
Federal Government's support, the industry has recovered relatively 
well compared to the airline industry in other nations.
    The indirect returns on investment are much more difficult to 
calculate but just as important. Reliable air travel is vital to 
national security. Many in the medical, military, scientific, non-
profit, and government communities needed to travel during the 
pandemic. PSP funds allowed airlines to maintain routes which were 
utilized for critical travel. Another indirect return on investment has 
been airline readiness as both leisure and business demand has 
returned.. From March 2020 to December 2021, the industry saw about a 
95 percent drop in demand to a return of nearly 84 percent of 2019 
levels. This dramatic shift was weathered in large part thanks to PSP 
funds. Everyone enjoying travel today can thank the investment made by 
the Federal Government.

    Question 2. It has been reported that both United and American have 
entered agreements to sell planes to the Bank of China Aviation, which 
is a state-owned bank, and lease them back to their companies long-
term. Does Delta Air Lines also participate in this practice?
    Answer. Delta does not have any sale/leaseback agreements with the 
Bank of China Aviation.

    Question 3. Given Delta's public statements about Georgia's actions 
to increase election integrity, is it the policy of Delta to engage in 
voting laws in all countries that the airline operates in, such as the 
People's Republic of China?
    Answer. In the United States, Delta is a member of the Bipartisan 
Policy Center's Business Alliance for Effective Democracy, which 
prioritizes policies that enhance the voting experience, inspire 
confidence in election results, and foster collaboration and 
bipartisanship in our governing institutions, especially Congress.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Ron Johnson to 
                             John Laughter
    Question 1. On what basis are you mandating the vaccine for your 
employees? Is it only because of the Federal contractor mandate or is 
it also due to a company decision?
    Answer. Delta has not mandated the vaccine for our employees. 
Rather, we have provided a combination of education, counseling, and 
incentives to achieve a vaccination rate of over 90 percent of our 
workforce.

    Question 2. What data are you keeping related to infections of 
COVID-19 and reactions to vaccines among your employees and passengers?
    Answer. Delta collects and processes data related to COVID-19 in 
compliance with privacy laws and regulations. We collect, use, and 
retain data related to employees' testing, vaccination, and booster 
status to protect Delta's workforce and those with whom our employees 
interact.

    Question 3. How many employees have had COVID-19?
    Answer. 23,027 employees as of Jan. 14, 2022.

    Question 4. How many were hospitalized?
    Answer. 201 employees as of Jan. 14, 2022.

    Question 5. How many died?
    Answer. 49 employees as of Jan. 14, 2022.

    Question 6. How many were vaccinated versus unvaccinated?
    Answer. 12,399 unvaccinated employees had COVID-19 and 10,628 
vaccinated employees had COVID-19 as of Jan. 14, 2022.

    Question 7. How many fully vaccinated employees have had a 
breakthrough case of COVID-19?
    Answer. 10,078 employees as of Jan. 14, 2022.

    Question 8. Have there been any COVID-19 outbreaks that were traced 
to a commercial flight? If so, how many?
    Answer. To our knowledge, there has not been any outbreak that has 
been traced to infections contracted during a commercial flight.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roy Blunt to 
                             John Laughter
    Question 1. There are a lot of challenges that continue to face the 
airline industry, whether it's decreased passenger ridership, workforce 
related challenges, or continued emergence of COVID variants. Can you 
elaborate and share with the Committee what you think the airline 
industry needs in order to operate successfully during these 
challenging times, and what can Congress do to help the airline 
industry return to pre-pandemic operational levels? Do you ever see the 
airline industry returning to how it used to operate before the 
pandemic?
    Answer. Regarding immediate COVID-19 challenges, the Omicron case 
surge is impacting business travel and international recovery the most 
as business meetings are canceled, planned office re-openings are 
postponed, and countries put restrictions back in place. While this 
downturn in demand has been quick, we expect an equally rapid 
improvement once U.S. case counts begin to decline. We remain confident 
in a strong spring and summer travel season, with significant pent-up 
demand for consumer and business travel both domestically and 
internationally. The most helpful support from the Federal Government 
would be continued communication to the American people regarding 
travel policies and regulations, such as, but not limited to, mask 
wearing, as well as working with other nations to establish a clear 
understanding of their policies.
    More broadly, we appreciate the help that Congress is able to give 
related to agency coordination. The current 5G deployment of the C band 
spectrum has demonstrated the importance of agency communication and 
coordination. We also need to build out our relationships with our 
foreign partners. Partnering with foreign carriers allows more flights, 
lower prices, more convenient travel options, and more competition for 
air travel. Congressional support for overseas partnerships will help 
provide improved options for travelers.
    One area that will not return to the pre-pandemic ``normal'' are 
the improvements we have made to the airport and aircraft environment 
that protect our employees and passengers from COVID. These efforts 
have been institutionalized through the establishment our Global 
Cleanliness Division and the hiring of Dr. Henry Ting as our Chief 
Medical Officer--a first in the airline industry. Much as our security 
efforts were expanded and institutionalized after 9/11, we now have a 
permanent division to track, mitigate, and prevent pandemic and related 
risks to our employees and passengers.

    Question 2. Ms. Nelson mentioned in her testimony that not all 
aircrafts are equipped with high efficiency particulate (HEPA) filters 
used to create a safe traveling environment in airplane cabins. Can you 
provide the Committee which aircrafts in your fleet currently have 
these HEPA filters installed and which aircrafts do not? For those 
aircrafts that do not have these HEPA filters currently in place, what 
plans, if any, are there to ensure smaller, regional aircrafts have 
these safety measures installed?
    Answer. The Boeing 717 is the only aircraft in the Delta mainline 
fleet without HEPA filters. This aircraft does not recirculate air from 
the cabin. Instead, 100 percent of the air is brought into the cabin 
from the exterior of the plane which achieves similar results to 
aircraft with HEPA systems.

    Question 3. I would agree with all the airlines executive witnesses 
that some of the success stories from the earlier CARES act packages 
are the investments Congress made in programs like the Payroll Support 
Program (PSP) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help sectors 
like the airline industry sustain during the pandemic. I have spoken 
with many of you throughout the pandemic and leading up to today's 
hearing. And an interesting observation I have noticed that has emerged 
from the pandemic is a general shift in how employees view work 
nowadays and the reluctance to return to the workplace. Can the 
airlines offer the Committee your thoughts on this and the challenges 
you have experienced in addressing this mentality shift in terms of 
incentivizing and encouraging employees to return to work?
    Answer. We believe that a large part of the ``Delta difference'' is 
our people. We run Delta as a people first company and believe that 
this culture has helped us become and remain a workplace of first 
choice among applicants. We have not had staffing shortages--by which 
we mean a lack of qualified candidates for open positions. Delta has 
had plenty of applications for the jobs we have posted. Overall, we 
hired over 8,700 new employees in 2021--6,100 Airport Customer Service 
agents, 625 pilots, and 1,000 flight attendants.
    We have seen that some employees that appreciate the flexibility of 
work policies during the pandemic--they still want to work but are 
choosing to work differently. Often, this means working from home or 
living in one place and being based in another. Many are choosing a new 
hybrid model of working from home, virtual work, and traveling to 
meetings. At Delta, we are striving accommodate the preferences of our 
employees where practical.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Deb Fischer to 
                             John Laughter
    Question 1. It was recently announced that Delta would be ending 
daily service between Lincoln and Minneapolis on January 10th. Could 
you explain what factors are considered when Delta terminates a service 
route?
    Answer. In June 2021, SkyWest made an independent decision to re-
enter LNK-MSP with their Delta-branded prorate program. SkyWest takes 
the commercial and financial risk for this flying, and Delta receives a 
prorated portion of the fare for passengers who connect in MSP onto our 
network. SkyWest has decided not to continue to serve LNK. We will 
transfer the airplane from the prorate program to our capacity purchase 
agreement and deploy it in larger, more strategic markets. United has 
historically been the largest carrier in Lincoln and continues to serve 
the station with multiple daily flights to both Denver and Chicago 
(currently 3 daily to each).

    Question 2. Will Delta return flight routes if passenger travel 
rebounds to 2019 numbers?
    Answer. This decision was made by SkyWest, and we cannot speak to 
their plans.
                                 ______
                                 
 Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Richard Blumenthal to 
                              Sara Nelson
    Flight attendant safety. As you testified, not only have flight 
attendants been frontline workers staffing planes throughout the COVID-
19 pandemic, they have also borne the brunt of passengers' ill-
behavior. You raised concerns about the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention's recent update to its COVID-19 guidance regarding 
quarantine times and the omicron variant.

    Question. Please elaborate on your concerns and explain the changes 
necessary to ensure flight attendants are safe at work.
    Answer. Delta Air Lines lobbied CDC publicly to reduce the 
guidelines for quarantine time from 10 to 5 days in the midst of the 
operational meltdown Delta was experiencing at the start of the 
Christmas holiday rush, omicron rise, and winter storms. Delta did not 
ask for public health changes, it asked for flexibility to schedule 
crews. AFA opposed this effort by Delta with a written letter to the 
CDC sent on December 23, 2021.
    But when CDC announced a change on Dec 26, 2022 it was almost 
unbelievable. It is never good governance to change policy in the 
middle of a holiday, especially as the airline or any company is in the 
middle of an operational meltdown. There are too many distractions and 
too much room for error. Attempting to communicate a change in policy 
that is already in effect can be chaotic in and of itself. If someone 
was on day 4 when the policy changed, are they now subject to the new 
rules under 5 days of quarantine. What if the employee was on day 7? 
None of these issues were addressed. Communicating a new policy 
throughout a world wide network, all levels of management, supervisors, 
and frontline workers trying to do the right thing in the middle of a 
pandemic, the busiest travel season of the year, winter storms, and an 
operational meltdown was just not possible and AFA received numerous 
questions about issues that even Delta's stated policy addressed but 
individual supervisors were providing different instruction.\1\ Worse 
though was that Delta's widely reported celebratory words after the CDC 
change stated, ``The updated guidance allows more flexibility for Delta 
to schedule crews and employees to support a busy holiday travel season 
and a sustained return to travel by customers.'' Delta's public 
statement, which was widely reported, said nothing about science, 
public health, or the safety of the staff; it's sole focus was on 
staffing and scheduling. This led frontline employees and the 
supervisors working to staff flights to assume job number one was 
staffing, not working to stop the spread of omicron.
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    The next day, December 27, Delta announced its new policy based on 
the new CDC guidelines, but sure enough the airline omitted the 
reference to returning to work without symptoms and did not explain how 
it would enforce proper mask wearing in all work spaces, including 
those that are exempt from mask wearing, unlike Delta had professed to 
the CDC in its original advocacy to change the guidelines because it 
had not properly planned for staffing over the holiday period.
    AFA immediately wrote to all of our AFA member airlines (example 
letter to United Airlines) to address our concerns about implementation 
and to especially press good communication on the significant points in 
the CDC guidance including:

  1.  asymptomatic and

  2.  wearing a proper mask when returning to work 5 days after testing 
        COVID+.

    We were seriously concerned that workers in the airline industry 
and beyond would feel pressure to come back to work while still sick, 
exacerbating the spread of the virus and extending the harm of the 
pandemic. No worker's life is worth sacrificing in order to staff an 
airline, or prioritize the economy over public health in any way. Many 
airlines agreed and held off making changes to their policies even 
though they too were stretched thin on staffing due to the high number 
of staff calling out sick mostly due to omicron. Most of these airlines 
had also negotiated with us to provide incentive programs for those who 
were not sick to pick up additional voluntary overtime to help ease 
staffing.
    The reduction in the isolation period from 10 days to 5 puts more 
pressure on workers to return to work sick, and even CDC admitted that 
10-15 percent of COVID+ individuals will still be infectious stage at 
five days after testing positive. We as a country were knowingly 
putting infectious people back to work, exposing other workers and the 
traveling public, all in the name of the economy. We cannot allow 
pandemic fatigue to lead to decisions that extend the life of the 
pandemic or put policies on the backs of workers. Already the lack of 
paid sick leave creates pressure on workers to come to work sick. 
Corporations that fail to recognize this with paid sick leave, or 
pressure workers to come to work sick or face discipline, are failing 
their workers and their customers.\2\
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                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema to 
                              Sara Nelson
    Assaults on Flight Attendants. In November, the Transportation 
Security Administration extended its mask rule through March 18, 2022, 
which requires most passengers to wear an approved covering over their 
nose and mouth for the duration of their flight. The Federal Aviation 
Administration has reported nearly four thousand incidents related to 
passengers refusing to comply with the TSA's mask rule this year. Your 
organization released a survey in July that indicated eighty-five 
percent of flight attendants have dealt with unruly passengers and 
seventeen percent have experienced a physical incident.

    Question. As air travel has increased during the holiday season, 
are flight attendants continuing to receive abuse from passengers? If 
so, what actions should this committee consider to address the issue?
    Answer. Yes, although it's a relatively small number of bad actors, 
passengers are continuing to create disruption at a high rate. Flight 
attendants continue to face abuse from passengers when doing their job 
and enforcing safety regulations.
    We commend the leadership of FAA Administrator Dickson to make this 
a top priority and use all of the tools available to the FAA to address 
this issue and bring stakeholders together to fix it. Still, incidents 
remain high and we have several recommendations for reducing these 
incidents.
    With clear support from President Biden, Attorney General Garland 
made the correct move to advise the DOJ this issue is a top priority 
and prosecution, including coordinating with the FAA on reports 
investigated by the agency, must lead to convictions that deter future 
bad behavior. We look forward to the justice system working without 
delay to levy criminal punishment of jail time so that passengers are 
fully aware of the severe consequences they face.
    We support the creation of a centralized list to ban passengers who 
engage in disruptive behavior from flying. There must be a real-time 
sharing of information throughout the aviation system to deny travel to 
anyone who has caused a disruption on that day followed by a due 
process investigation. Passengers who are fined or convicted for 
disruptive behavior should be banned from flying for a period of time 
commensurate with the crime. Currently airlines are maintaining their 
own lists and will ban an aggressive passenger from their carrier. 
Unfortunately this passenger can just book and fly on another carrier.
    Mask enforcement in the airports is abysmal. We need to be clear 
about who is charged with this responsibility and it needs to be done 
consistently. Requiring passengers to acknowledge they must wear a mask 
from the moment they enter an airport until they leave it again at the 
destination airport, and then failing to enforce this requirement in 
the airport, sets up conflict on the plane when a Flight Attendant is 
sometimes the first person during the travel experience to enforce this 
Federal requirement. To be clear, it is our experience that the vast 
majority of passengers want to wear masks and want others to do the 
same. The consistent communications around this Federal requirement is 
a large part of the confidence travelers have gained in purchasing 
airline tickets in the midst of a pandemic. Vaccines returned demand 
for air travel. Masks, deep cleaning, air filtration, and altered 
service procedures also help travelers understand the airplane can be a 
controlled environment and one of the safety locations out of the home.
    Alcohol is a major contributor to disruptive passenger events. To-
go alcohol should be banned in airports. It sends a message that a 
passenger can bring an open container onto the plane, serve themselves 
and board even if inebriated. None of this is true and in fact, all are 
violations of Federal regulations. Even passengers who are not 
belligerent after drinking alcohol, find it hard to comply with safety 
policies such as wearing the mask over the mouth and nose, only 
lowering it momentarily when taking a sip or bite to eat. This makes 
the jobs of Flight Attendants more difficult and raises the anxiety of 
other travelers who were counting on a controlled environment to reduce 
the risk of exposure to COVID.
    We also need clear and consistent reporting and response from law 
enforcement. When an incident is reported we need law enforcement to 
respond and take action. Airlines also need to support crew members by 
giving them time to fill out reports with law enforcement and 
communicate clearly that the airline will provide both emotional and 
financial support to follow through on court appearances and the like 
without a loss of pay. Each airline should report to the FAA how this 
program works and how they will communicate it to frontline workers. 
United Airlines has had a program in place since 2007, based on 
guidance from the FAA. It is a good model for all airlines to study and 
duplicate.
    We also urge the DOJ to conduct criminal prosecution of passengers 
who commit abuse or act up on planes and in airports. Flight Attendants 
report half of the incidents in the air showed some sign of trouble on 
the ground. Better responding, supporting, and arresting violent 
passengers who act out against agents on the ground will make aviation 
safer for everyone and reduce the number of incidents in the air. No 
passenger should be allowed to punch or harm a Transportation Security 
Officer, a Passenger Service Agent, or another airport employee and 
then get on a plane with more than one hundred people who will be put 
at further risk in the air.
    Losing the freedom of flight is another way to communicate the 
seriousness with which people must follow the rules to keep aviation 
safe.
                                 ______
                                 
  Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Raphael Warnock to 
                              Sara Nelson
    Crew Safety. The Payroll Support Program has been a critical tool 
for protecting airline workers' jobs throughout the pandemic. Most of 
the airlines testified to the various policies and programs they have 
implemented to help protect passengers and prevent further spread of 
the coronavirus. However testimony was also given about the terrible 
harassment and violent abuse airline crew members have faced at an 
alarming rate since the beginning of the pandemic. The Federal Aviation 
Administration and Department of Justice, under the Biden 
Administration have stepped up enforcement and prosecution efforts 
related to unruly passengers.

    Question. What are airlines that your members work for doing to 
protect their employees' physical health and wellbeing--not just 
against COVID, but unruly passengers, as well?
    Answer. On protecting workers health and well being, the airlines 
did work with us to update announcements and communicate with pilots, 
agents, controllers and local law enforcement about the need to take 
this issue seriously and back up the work of flight attendants. Some 
airlines have altered service based on our advocacy, including halting 
the service of alcohol on the planes. The more that airlines addressed 
this issue as a company-wide problem, not just a flight attendant or 
gate agent problem, the more successful efforts have been. Getting 
pilots to make announcements about masks, not serving your own alcohol, 
and listening to flight attendant instructions has made a significant 
difference in the tone of the flight.
    Much more could be done to work on diversity and inclusion 
throughout the workgroups. Our studies demonstrate that most disruptive 
behavior is also accompanied by racial, gender, and homophobic slurs. 
These issues are rarely reported or addressed and it is paramount that 
everyone at the airline understand allowing discrimination and 
threatening, hostile aggressions to persist toward anyone undermines 
the safety of everyone. For example, if a Flight Attendant is 
conducting safety checks or enforcement and meets resistance with 
derogatory comments related to race, gender, gender identity or 
national origin, those actions undermine the authority and leadership 
of the crewmember working as a team with others to keep everyone safe. 
It sends a signal to other passengers that a hostile environment is 
tolerated and it may lead to others shrinking away from being a helper 
or simply setting the necessary tone that we are all in this together 
for the safety of flight. More can be done at all airlines to promote 
awareness and strategies for eradicating discrimination of all kinds.
    On disruptive passengers, the airlines have worked with us to 
address this issue and protect workers subjected to these incidents. 
But not every time, nor every issue. Workers need to know their 
experiences will be taken seriously, given time to submit the proper 
reports, and receive follow up about the status of action on the 
reported incidents. There needs to be better coordination between 
airlines and the government to ban disruptive passengers across all 
carriers and communicate to those on the frontlines that they are not 
alone.

    Voluntary Separation Programs & Rebuilding the Workforce. The 
Payroll Support Program was able to keep hundreds of thousands of hard 
working Americans--including many Georgians--on the job throughout the 
pandemic. However, no one Federal program could make up for all the 
losses or solve all the challenges inflicted upon the airline industry 
by the pandemic. And airlines had to adjust. As a result, we saw the 
airline workforce reduced significantly--mostly through voluntary 
separation and early retirement packages offered by airlines.

    Question 1. Could you share your perspective on the need for these 
programs and how you and your members worked with your employers to 
implement them?
    Answer. When Congress did not extend PSP on October 1, 2020, all 
airlines either furloughed and/or encouraged voluntary separation/early 
retirement. In some cases, these programs were welcome to workers who 
otherwise were very concerned, especially pre-vaccine, about their own 
pre-existing condition or that of a family member. They were able to 
bridge medical insurance in some cases and add a modest amount of pay 
to be able to consider a separation earlier than they otherwise would 
have chosen without the pandemic. Among the major carriers, Delta had 
voluntary separation numbers that were more than double their 
competitors. The airline also cut hours of employees who stayed on the 
job and in doing so did not use the PSP in the spirit it was intended. 
Of course airlines had to adjust and take steps to reduce costs, 
especially as it seemed Congress would not extend the PSP beyond 
September 30, 2020. But, PSP was intended to save jobs, stabilize the 
industry and economy, cap executive compensation, and ban stock 
buybacks. It was not intended to be used as a competitive tool between 
airlines. The low level of unionization at Delta allowed the airline to 
take steps other airlines did not and steps that were not in the spirit 
of the program as it was discussed in the final hours of negotiations 
during the creation of the CARES Act.
    The PSP was absolutely necessary. Aviation demand dropped by 97 
percent overnight in March 2020. The industry would have collapsed and 
hundreds of thousands of aviation workers would have been furloughed 
overnight if the PSP included in the CARES Act had not been enacted, 
and subsequent extensions had not been passed. The program kept workers 
on the job, connected to their paychecks and benefits, and maintained a 
critical sector of our economy. Without PSP, we would have faced 
layoffs, bankruptcies, consolidation, and weakening of the U.S. 
aviation industry. That would have been bad for aviation workers, the 
flying public, and U.S. national security.
    Additionally, because of PSP, aviation workers and U.S. airlines 
were able to assist in Operation Allies Welcome flying Afghan evacuees 
to safety. We paid taxes and supported city and state programs. We paid 
into social programs and continued to utilize our employer healthcare. 
The PSP utilized the payroll programs already in place to ensure no 
additional burden on the government, and consistency in paychecks and 
benefits for the workers. Maintaining systems in place proved to be 
good for government, workers, taxpayers, and the overall economy. It is 
being celebrated around the world as the most effective COVID relief 
program.

    Question 2. How did implementing these programs help shape the 
airline industry workforce long-term--for better or for worse?
    Answer. Congress's investment of $54 billion to pay tens of 
thousands of airline employees during the pandemic not only helped 
workers and their families but also airlines would not have been able 
to meet the demand for flights again last summer, fall and over the 
2021 holidays. As you know, there was a temporary lapse in PSP funding 
in late 2020 which meant workers certified with credentials and 
qualifications were temporarily laid off. Our highly skilled workforce 
needs to maintain their qualifications because it takes months to re-
qualify and certify them.
    PSP saved our jobs and industry in real time, and it protected our 
profession for the long-term. In 2020, airline workers across the 
industry were finally set to negotiate above and beyond all that we 
lost following September 11, 2001. After September 11, the result of 
insufficient action from the government was a string of bankruptcies 
across the airline industry. We, the workers, were the bailout. Our 
jobs were cut. Our pensions gutted. Those who remained shouldered 
massive pay cuts and many more hours on the job.
    Wall Street was ecstatic with the enormous cuts to labor costs. 
Workers were devastated. Consumers eventually felt the hit too as 
capacity was cut, seat sizes shrunk, and pricing became segmented with 
all kinds of fees. There was no hiring for a long time, but the 
diminished jobs later made it hard to attract pilots, mechanics, and 
others to aviation careers.
    Not this time, thanks to PSP.

    Question 3. As air traffic has begun to bounce back, what have you 
noticed about the workforce as airlines have begun rehiring and 
rebuilding the workforce?
    Answer. The airline industry is 80 percent union density. We 
preserved good jobs defined by union contracts throughout the pandemic, 
had the ability to address health and safety directly through our 
unions, and even negotiated incentive agreements to support COVID 
vaccines, voluntary overtime, or prudent use of sick leave during the 
pandemic. Workers all over the country have seen that the value of 
these union jobs is self-evident and it attracts new workers to the 
industry.
    As the industry continues to recover, most carriers have plans or 
are already hiring new employees bringing a new, more diverse 
generation to good-paying, union careers. But the job has changed and 
that will require returning to a pre-9/11 model that does not as 
heavily count on voluntary overtime hours. Aviation workers are not as 
willing to pick up overtime due to the combative passengers and 
concerns around COVID. American worker productivity was higher than any 
developed country in the pre-pandemic world. This is also true in 
aviation, but this level of worker productivity is not sustainable 
anywhere.
                                 ______
                                 
 Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Richard Blumenthal to 
                              Ted Christie
    Compensation for consumers. Since March 2020, flight delays and 
cancellations have disrupted plans for countless travelers--and the 
most recent cancellations left people stranded in airports and away 
from family during the winter holiday season. Senator Markey and I have 
repeatedly called for full cash refunds for impacted consumers. But 
U.S. airlines have been slow to provide credits and legally-required 
refunds and have hidden behind vague ticketing policies. Media reports 
indicate that airlines are currently holding approximately $20 billion 
worth of travel vouchers and unrefunded ticket values.

    Question 1. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that Spirit Airlines currently owes consumers? Please provide the 
amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. No response at time of this printing.

    Question 2. Does Spirit Airlines gain revenue (such as from 
interest) from the value of unused travel vouchers that are currently 
held in company accounts? If so, how much revenue has Spirit Airlines 
collected from the funds in your accounts that are linked to unused 
travel vouchers since March 2020?
    Answer. No response at time of this printing.

    Question 3. If Spirit Airlines still owes consumers under Question 
1, by when will it have completed issuing its refunds? What is the 
reason for this delay?
    Answer. No response at time of this printing.

    Question 4. Spirit Airlines reportedly cancelled more than 250 
flights in the last week. How many consumers were impacted by these 
cancellations?
    Answer. No response at time of this printing.

    Question 5. Will Spirit Airlines commit to providing full cash 
refunds to all impacted consumers? If not, explain why not and what 
compensation you will issue to consumers.
    Answer. No response at time of this printing.

    Question 6. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that Spirit Airlines owe consumers for these cancellations? Please 
provide the amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. No response at time of this printing.

    Question 7. By when does Spirit Airlines plan to have fully 
reimbursed consumers?
    Answer. No response at time of this printing.

    Question 8. Please explain the causes of the recent flight 
cancellations as well as the steps that Spirit Airlines is implementing 
to prevent a repeat of these cancellations.
    Answer. No response at time of this printing.

    Question 9. Does Spirit Airlines maintain interline agreements with 
other carriers to allow passengers affected by disruptions an alternate 
means of getting to their destinations? If not, why not?
    Answer. No response at time of this printing.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to 
                              Robin Hayes
    Payroll Support Program Impact. Congress created the Payroll 
Support Program to protect the airline industry's workforce, support 
the continuity of safe and essential travel, and ensure the industry's 
ability to remain viable to meet future consumer travel demand. The 
Department of the Treasury disbursed a total of $54 billion to 
passenger airlines, across three rounds of PSP, to provide critical 
relief during the pandemic.
    We know that PSP made a difference in December 2020, when Congress 
extended the program, because airline recipients had to recall 
thousands of employees who were furloughed after September 30, 2020 
when the first round of PSP ended.
    According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), between 
October 2020 and February 2021, major airlines hired or brought back 
28,179 workers. These workers came back just in time for the air travel 
rebound, which took off in March 2021. As of September 2021, airlines 
were approximately 8.8 percent below their pre-pandemic employment 
levels according to BTS data. I am interested in learning from your 
airline on how the Payroll Support Program impacted your workforce and 
operations. Mr. Hayes, JetBlue received $2.08 billion in PSP funds.

    Question 1. If not for PSP funding, what do you think the status of 
your workforce would look like today? Would your airline have been able 
to survive the pandemic, absent PSP funding?
    Answer. On behalf of more than 22,000 crewmembers at JetBlue, I 
again thank you for your leadership and advocacy for the Payroll 
Support Program (PSP). COVID-19 has been a challenge unlike any we have 
ever faced and without Congress' efforts, the airline industry would 
have been irrevocably damaged. Without PSP, this summer's travel surge 
would not have been possible and the magnitude of job losses in the 
industry would have been catastrophic. JetBlue is proud to have never 
furloughed a single crewmember in our over 21 year history. We were 
only able to keep to this pledge because of PSP.

    Question 2. Since receiving PSP funding, do you believe your 
airline is in a good position to meet current consumer travel demand?
    Answer. Yes. We have previously and continue to meet customer 
demand since receiving PSP funds. Even during the recent holiday season 
and the impacts of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, where we canceled 
flights, we also saw customers proactively canceling their reservations 
and thus our load factors never spiked. Similarly, we see the ability 
to continue to meet demand despite the uncertainty to the market caused 
by Omicron.

    Airline Relationships with Labor. Congress focused on sustaining 
the airline workforce and ensuring continuity of operations during a 
time of intense uncertainty.
    From information shared with the Committee, it appears that those 
airlines and unions that worked together found solutions to COVID-19 
challenges, from addressing new health risks in the workplace to 
ensuring currency and qualification of a highly-skilled workforce.

    Question. How has your airline collaborated with unions to 
establish policies to meet workforce needs in response to the COVID-19 
pandemic? How did your airline's relationship with relevant labor 
unions enhance your ability to meet operational needs and the rise in 
air travel demand?
    Answer. Only two workgroups at JetBlue are represented by labor 
unions, and JetBlue has a direct relationship with all other 
Crewmembers. JetBlue pilots are represented by the Airline Pilots 
Association (ALPA) and our inflight crewmembers by the Transport 
Workers Union (TWU).
    During the pandemic, we have negotiated numerous Memoranda of 
Understanding (MOU) and Letters of Agreement (LOA) with ALPA with the 
purpose of:

  1.  Protecting the health of our crewmembers;

  2.  Reducing cost during the initial stage of the pandemic; and 3. 
        Partnering to effectively train and qualify pilots in their 
        return.

    For our Inflight crewmembers, we are one of the few-and perhaps 
only-airlines that continued negotiations toward a Collective 
Bargaining Agreement (CBA) during the pandemic. We partnered with the 
TWU to achieve our first CBA, which was ratified December 13, 2021.

    Contract Workforce Role and Staffing. At the height of the 
pandemic, airport and aviation workers stood with airlines and called 
on the Federal government to make sure our national air travel system 
remained strong, aviation jobs were protected, and that airlines were 
ready to meet consumer travel demand.
    For decades, airlines have outsourced essential service airport 
jobs like cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, security officers, and 
baggage handlers to contractors at major airports across the country. 
Contract workers play a critical role in our aviation system and 
continue to work hard on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic to 
keep travelers safe.
    The pandemic has exposed problems with how domestic travel 
disruptions are being addressed and how such response affects the 
airline industry's workforce. For example, an August 2021 SEIU survey 
conducted in Houston to assess the experiences of contracted airport 
workers detailed incidents of short staffing and mandatory overtime 
policies causing workforce fatigue, which has created a strained 
operational environment.

    Question. How will your airline ensure that the contracted 
workforce, which provides such critical services, is stable, well-
trained, and has adequate staffing levels needed to respond to 
operational challenges?
    Answer. We work with our Business Partners on an ongoing basis to 
set them up for success to maintain a stable and trained staff. Among 
the initiatives we put in place are:

   In 2021 we made agreements with over 75 lines of service 
        across our network regarding minimum and or competitive wage 
        increases. Ultimately, raising hourly rates of pay for a 
        Business partners significantly increases retention and hiring 
        ability.

   We have, and continue to waive staffing based Service Level 
        Agreements which in allows our Business Partners to put that 
        money into staff retention initiatives.

   We have, and continue to, offer attendance based incentives 
        to some of our hardest hit frontline Business Partner teams. We 
        generally cover these incentives financially.

   We continue to support our hardest hit Business Partners by 
        sending our own Crewmembers to work in their JetBlue 
        operations. This allows our Business Partners the time 
        necessary to get their folks hired, trained and retained.

   We continue to have ongoing conversations with our Business 
        Partners on all things staffing related with the goal of 
        ensuring a stable workforce, which in turn drives more 
        efficient and safer operations.

   Related to training, we have added more ad hoc local 
        training to maximize the ability of our Business Partners to 
        hire and train quality employees.

   We have added more training instructors as well as Business 
        Partner classes at our Orlando training facility allowing for a 
        higher throughput.

    Airline Workforce Recall. The Committee is aware that, in 2020, 
airlines took varying approaches to temporarily reduce the number of 
active employees on their payroll to avoid involuntarily furloughing or 
laying off employees as they experienced growing pandemic-related 
financial difficulties. Many airlines offered employee programs to 
incentivize voluntary separations, including voluntary furloughs, early 
retirements, and temporary leaves of absences.
    Airlines that extended voluntary leave options to their employees 
reserved the right to recall such employees from leave when necessary. 
To the Committee's knowledge, most airlines started broad workforce 
recall efforts in the first quarter of 2021, employing particularly 
concentrated efforts to bring back employees in January and February 
2021. However, recalling employees has not been an easy process as 
airlines have reported higher workforce shortages and rates of 
absenteeism in certain workgroups, leaving the airlines more ill-
equipped to meet consumer travel demand.

    Question 1. Has your airline experienced challenges in recalling 
your workforce? If so, did your airline anticipate such issues in 
recalling employees from leave before initiating your recall efforts? 
Please describe the scope of the workforce recall challenges your 
airline faced in 2021.
    Answer. As travel demand began to return in 2021, we did recall 
some crewmembers that had taken Long Term Time Off (LTO) at the 
beginning of the pandemic in 2020. We saw a very high return rate in 
2021--only 20 of the 1200 crewmembers that participated in the LTO 
program elected to resign rather than return to work at JetBlue when 
recalled.

    Question 2. Has your airline's workforce fully returned as of 
January 1, 2022? How did the status of your workforce's recall from 
voluntary leave programs affect your airline's ability to meet consumer 
air travel demand in 2021?
    Answer. As noted above, JetBlue offered a Long Term Time Off 
program originally intended to run from Q2 2020 to Q3 2021. Early in 
2021, as we saw demand start to return, we began recalling LTO 
crewmembers. More than 98 percent returned from LTO; the rest chose not 
to return to JetBlue. The small number of crewmembers that did not 
return had minimal impact on our ability to meet consumer demand, as we 
increased our hiring for all front line positions concurrently with the 
recall.
Airline Operational and Scheduling Data.
    Question 1. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
please provide the number of flights your airline operated, the number 
of flights cancelled, the number of flights delayed more than 15 
minutes, the number of flights delayed more than 90 minutes, and the 
number of flights delayed more than six hours.
    Answer. The chart below details the number of JetBlue flights (both 
domestic and international) operated in the last quarter of 2021, as 
well a count of canceled flights and those delayed by 15, 90, and 360 
minutes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                        Delay >=
                                                      Completed   Cancelled  Delay >= 15  Delay >= 90     360
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 2021                                             24,700          85        5,646        1,069         54
November 2021                                            24,743          40        6,201          956         51
December 2021                                            26,720       1,052        9,512        2,060        103
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Question 2. For the month of January 2022, please provide the 
number of daily flights your airline operated, the number of flights 
cancelled, the number of flights delayed more than 15 minutes, the 
number of flights delayed more than 90 minutes, and the number of 
flights delayed more than six hours.
    Answer. The chart below details the number of JetBlue flights (both 
domestic and international) operated from January 1 to January 26, 
2022, as well a count of canceled flights and those delayed by 15, 90, 
and 360 minutes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                        Delay >=
                                                      Completed   Cancelled  Delay >= 15  Delay >= 90     360
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 2022*                                            21,917       1,152        7,251        2,023        123
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Question 3. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
and January 2022, please detail any preemptive schedule changes that 
your airline made, including cancelling flights or changing the 
departure time by more than one hour.
    Answer. In the period from October to December 2021, we implemented 
limited preemptive schedule changes--consistent with our usual 
practice. We generally do not make close-in schedule changes as our 
internal timeline is to finalize a month's schedule 45 days in advance. 
Our internal guidelines for schedule changes are 180 days out for major 
changes, 90 days out for moderate changes, and 45 days out for small 
changes. While we have adjusted this timeline in 2020 to manage through 
the uncertainties of the pandemic, but not during the fourth quarter of 
2021.
    We had prepared extensively for this holiday period with staffing 
levels at their highest level since prior to COVID and we successfully 
operated through the Thanksgiving holiday without a single 
cancellation. However, the exponential rise in COVID-positive cases in 
late December 2021- particularly in the Northeast, where about 75 
percent of our crew are based -strained our operation as crew 
availability drove a significant increase in last minute flight 
cancellations. In response to these operational challenges, even though 
thousands of JetBlue crewmembers stepped in and picked up additional 
shifts to mitigate some of the impact, we preemptively announced 
schedule changes to January 2022 in order to manage limited crew 
resources and reaccommodate impacted customers in advance, rather than 
face last-minute cancellations at airports.

January Schedule Changes

  1)  Schedule change impacting January 5--January 14, primarily 
        designed to provide operational relief (Crew absences/call-
        outs)--roughly 536 segments (flights) removed from the January 
        schedule

  2)  Schedule change impacting January 14--January 31, driven by a 
        combination of operational relief and revenue (cancellations)--
        roughly 382 segments (flights) removed from the January 
        schedule
Airline Employment and Absenteeism Levels.
    Question 1. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
please provide the number of full-and part-time employees employed by 
your airline.
    Answer.

    JetBlue Total Crewmember Headcount

    October 2021: 21,713

    November 2021: 21,932

    December 2021: 22,151

    Question 2. For the months of October, November, and December 2021, 
and January 2022, please detail any significant absenteeism problems 
experienced by your airline.
    Answer. Overall, we experienced an increase in unplanned absence 
hours and/or daily call outs in late 2021 and early 2022 compared to 
the previous year. In the four months from October 2021 to January 
2022:

   Flight Operations Crewmembers (Pilots)--The percentage of 
        Daily Call Outs in October,

    November and December was two percent higher in 2021 than each of 
the same months in 2020. In January 2022, the rate actually decreased 
one percent relative to January 2021.

   Inflight Crewmembers (Flight Attendants)--The percentage of 
        Daily Call Outs were three to six percent higher in each of the 
        past four months compared with October 2020 through January 
        2021.

   Airports Crewmembers--The percentage of Unplanned Absent 
        Hours for Airports

    Crewmembers was three to four percent higher in each of October, 
November and December 2021, and 10 percent higher in January 2022 
compared to January 2021.

    Consumer Refunds. In 2020, the Department of Transportation (DOT) 
received 29,687 refund complaints against U.S. airlines, a 4,634 
percent increase over 2019. And while the problem has started to get 
better, DOT still received 5,129 refund complaints in September 2021, 
well above the 627 filed against U.S. airlines for all of 2019.
    DOT has a rulemaking in the Unified Agenda which says that it is 
looking at defining what constitutes a ``cancellation'' and a 
``significant delay''--the two things that entitle a customer to a 
refund. Currently, DOT lets airlines make their own determinations as 
to whether or not a flight is cancelled, and the number of hours that 
account for a ``significant'' delay.

    Question 1. In your view, how many hours does a flight have to be 
delayed before a passenger is entitled to a refund?
    Answer. A customer whose flight is delayed or who is impacted by a 
preemptive schedule change of greater than 2 hours is eligible for a 
refund to original form of payment.

    Question 2. If the reluctance to issue refunds was just an issue of 
preserving cash on hand, then why were refund complaints still so high 
in 2021?
    Answer.
    There were two drivers for increased refund complaints in 2021:

  1)  Customers who had voluntarily cancelled their flights (sometimes 
        due to COVID or exposure to COVID) and were unhappy about 
        receiving a travel credit rather than a refund to original form 
        of payment; and

  2)  Some customers who had used their Travel Bank funds to book a 
        flight that JetBlue ultimately canceled or significantly 
        delayed--which would generally qualify for a refund to their 
        original form of payment--were unhappy because their refund for 
        the canceled or delayed flight was returned as a travel credit 
        rather than cash. In these cases, the customers who paid for 
        the impacted flight with travel credits were refunded to that 
        form of payment.

    PSP Compliance. Under section 4116(a)(2) of the CARES Act, no 
corporate officer or employee of your airline whose total compensation 
exceeded $425,000 in calendar year 2019 (other than an employee whose 
compensation is determined through an existing collective bargaining 
agreement entered into prior to the enactment of the CARES Act) was 
permitted to receive from your airline, severance pay or other benefits 
upon termination of employment which exceeds twice the maximum total 
compensation received by the corporate officer or employee in 2019. Yet 
in the first quarter of 2021, your airline reported to the Department 
of the Treasury that some employees and corporate officers had received 
severance pay or other benefits after March 24, 2020 which more than 
doubled their 2019 total compensation.

    Question 1. Please explain whether the severance pay or other 
benefits provided to these employees and corporate officers complied 
with the CARES Act and associated Payroll Support Program requirements.
    Answer. JetBlue did not provide severance pay or other benefits to 
employees and corporate officers in violation of CARES Act and PSP 
requirements, and we are not aware of any filing to the Treasury 
Department that indicates such. If there is confusion with JetBlue's Q1 
2021 report to Treasury or any other filing, we would be happy to meet 
and resolve the misunderstanding.

    Question 2. Are you aware of any non-compliances associated with 
your airline's receipt of Payroll Support Program funding?
    Answer. No. We believe we are in full compliance with the 
requirements associated with the PSP.
                                 ______
                                 
 Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Richard Blumenthal to 
                              Robin Hayes
Questions Regarding State of Current Operations
    Question 1. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that JetBlue currently owes consumers? Please provide the amount of 
each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. As of January 8, 2022, the total value of Travel Bank 
Credits held by JetBlue customers is $586 million. As detailed below, 
customers who have purchased non-refundable fares and proactively 
cancel their flights receive travel credits in a JetBlue Travel Bank 
for future use. If JetBlue cancels or a significant schedule change 
occurs (generally a schedule change of over two hours is considered 
significant) the customer has the option of a refund to the original 
form of payment. We immediately process refund requests for eligible 
customers that request a refund to their original form of payment.

    Question 2. Does JetBlue gain revenue (such as from interest) from 
the value of unused travel vouchers that are currently held in company 
accounts? If so, how much revenue has JetBlue collected from the funds 
in your accounts that are linked to unused travel vouchers since March 
2020?
    Answer. JetBlue does not gain any revenue from the value of unused 
travel vouchers. The interest income on credit balances, if there were 
any, would be de minimus.

    Question 3. If JetBlue still owes consumers under Question 1, by 
when will it have completed issuing its refunds? What is the reason for 
this delay?
    Answer. Customers who have purchased non-refundable fares and 
proactively cancel their flights receive travel credits in a JetBlue 
Travel Bank for future use. If JetBlue cancels or a significant 
schedule change occurs (generally a schedule change of over two hours 
is considered significant) the customer can opt either for a refund to 
the original form of payment or for a Travel Bank Credit. Therefore, 
every customer with a canceled reservation should have received either 
a credit (when the customer proactively canceled) or the option of a 
refund or credit (when JetBlue canceled or significantly changed the 
flight). Refund requests for eligible customers are immediately 
processed without delay.
    A Customer's JetBlue Travel Bank, funded when the customer 
proactively cancels a reservation originally purchased with a non-
refundable fare, remains available for a customer to apply toward 
future JetBlue travel. We extended expiration dates for Travel Bank 
funds a number of times through the pandemic. Our current policy 
permits eligible customers with a Travel Bank credit to extend that 
credit until Oct 31, 2022, upon request, for travel through the end of 
our published schedule. Because JetBlue flights are available for 
booking up to 331 days in advance, a customer could to use the Travel 
Bank credit today to book flights through December 2022. If the 
customer wanted to hold on to the credit until just before their Travel 
Bank funds expire in October 2022, they could apply the funds, for 
flights through September 2023. Additional information is available at 
https://www.jetblue.com/help/travel-bank-credits.
    Of course, if you hear from travelers with specific concerns about 
a canceled JetBlue flight, we encourage them to contact JetBlue's 
Customer Support Team for assistance. Our Government Affairs team can 
also assist with inquiries from your office to address specific 
concerns on a customer-by-customer basis.
Questions Regarding December 2021 Operations
    Question 1. Please explain the causes of the recent flight 
cancellations as well as the steps that JetBlue is implementing to 
prevent a repeat of these cancellations.
    Answer. The striking increase in COVID-19 cases is impacting 
families, businesses and organizations across the country and 
unfortunately, JetBlue is not immune. We had prepared extensively for 
this holiday period with staffing levels at their highest level since 
prior to COVID and we successfully operated through the Thanksgiving 
holiday and the first part of December without a single cancellation.
    However, the exponential rise in COVID-positive cases in late 
December--particularly in the Northeast, where about 75 percent of our 
crew are based -strained our operation as crew availability drove a 
significant increase in close-in flight cancellations.
    In response to these operational challenges, thousands of JetBlue 
crewmembers have stepped in and picked up additional shifts to mitigate 
some of the impact. Even so, we anticipate the need to cancel some 
flights through the next couple of weeks. On December 28, 2021 we 
proactively canceled about 1,280 flights through January 13 in order to 
better manage our limited crew resources and reaccommodate impacted 
customers in advance, rather than face last-minute cancellations at 
airports. Though we would rather not have customers inconvenienced 
during their holiday travel, we are pleased that despite the 
disruptions 84 percent of impacted customers were reaccommodated within 
24 hours (Dec 15-Jan 10).

    Question 2. JetBlue reportedly cancelled more than 100 flights in 
the last week (12/22 to 12/29). How many consumers were impacted by 
these cancellations?
    Answer. The rise in COVID-positive cases in late December--
particularly in the Northeast, where about 75 percent of our crew are 
based -strained our operation as crew availability drove a significant 
increase in close-in flight cancellations.


    Question 3. Will JetBlue commit to providing full cash refunds to 
all impacted consumers? If not, explain why not and what compensation 
you will issue to consumers.
    Answer. When flights are canceled, whenever possible we 
reaccommodate customers on another JetBlue flight. In cases where we 
cannot accommodate a customer within a reasonable period of time, that 
customer is entitled to a full refund to their original form of 
payment. We have also waived change and cancellation fees on Blue Basic 
bookings through January 31, 2022 and there are no fees to change or 
cancel our other fares.

    Question 4. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that JetBlue owe consumers for these cancellations? Please provide the 
amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. As of January 8, 2022, the total value of Travel Bank 
Credits held by JetBlue customers impacted by these flight 
cancellations is $75.8 million

    Question 5. By when does JetBlue plan to have fully reimbursed 
consumers?
    Answer. As mentioned previously, every customer with a canceled 
reservation should have received either a credit (when the customer 
proactively canceled) or the option of a refund or credit (when JetBlue 
canceled or significantly changed the flight). Refunds to original form 
of payment for eligible customers who choose that option are 
immediately processed.

    Question 6. Does JetBlue maintain interline agreements with other 
carriers to allow passengers affected by disruptions an alternate means 
of getting to their destinations? If not, why not?
    Answer. JetBlue has a number of Kprotection agreements with other 
airlines that provide options for reaccommodating customers in the 
event of a JetBlue flight disruption. Subject to the conditions of the 
individual agreements, we have the option of reaccommodating customers 
in the midst of irregular operations on American Airlines, Alaska 
Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Silver, Cape Air, and JSX, plus a large 
number of international airlines. For cases when an advance JetBlue 
schedule change requires reaccommodation on another carrier, JetBlue 
has agreement with American and Alaska.
                                 ______
                                 
 Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Richard Blumenthal to 
                             Ben Minicucci
    Compensation for consumers. Since March 2020, flight delays and 
cancellations have disrupted plans for countless travelers--and the 
most recent cancellations left people stranded in airports and away 
from family during the winter holiday season. Senator Markey and I have 
repeatedly called for full cash refunds for impacted consumers. But 
U.S. airlines have been slow to provide credits and legally-required 
refunds and have hidden behind vague ticketing policies. Media reports 
indicate that airlines are currently holding approximately $20 billion 
worth of travel vouchers and unrefunded ticket values.

    Question 1. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that Alaska Airlines currently owes consumers? Please provide the 
amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. Consistent with our policy and Federal law, Alaska Airlines 
is providing prompt refunds back to the original form of payment to 
guests that choose not to accept the alternatives offered for a 
canceled flight or for significantly delayed flights.

    Question 2. Does Alaska Airlines gain revenue (such as from 
interest) from the value of unused travel vouchers that are currently 
held in company accounts? If so, how much revenue has Alaska Airlines 
collected from the funds in your accounts that are linked to unused 
travel vouchers since March 2020?
    Answer. Our guest facing policies when it comes to guest ticket 
credits or E-Wallet funds are designed to allow for flexibility and 
generosity compliant with Federal regulations, while also encouraging 
predictability to allow us to schedule and operate our network 
nationwide, all of which is separate from our accounting policies.

    Question 3. If Alaska Airlines still owes consumers under Question 
1, by when will it have completed issuing its refunds? What is the 
reason for this delay?
    Answer. For ticket values associated with travel dates in the past, 
those values are valid for 12 months from the original issuance of the 
ticket. The customer can elect to keep the stored value in the ticket 
or request a refund to the original form of payment (if a refundable 
ticket or if Alaska canceled or significantly delayed the flight) or 
request travel credit for the residual value.
    Alaska's policy is to process refunds to customers under the 
Department of Transportation refund requirements (7 days for credit 
card refunds, 21 days for cash--from the date of request). We are 
providing these refunds back to the original form of payment to our 
guests that choose not to accept an alternative (i.e., travel credit) 
when offered for a canceled flight or for significantly delayed flights 
according to our contract of carriage and DOT requirements.
    As refund request volumes are significantly higher than normal due 
to the cancellations over the last several days of December, our 
refunds team is working tirelessly to ensure we provide refunds to our 
guests in a timely manner. Alaska Airlines has provided premium pay for 
overtime and is utilizing additional resources to assist with these 
requests.
    We have also posted a public guide on refund eligibility on our 
website: https://www.alaskaair.com/content/travel-info/help/refund-
eligibility.

    Question 4. Alaska Airlines reportedly cancelled more than 400 
flights in the last week (12/22 to 12/29). How many consumers were 
impacted by these cancellations?
    Answer. Due to winter weather impacts on our operation at key 
airports in our network we had to slow down our operation and ensure 
the safety of our employees and our guests. Unfortunately, during this 
period between 12/22 and 12/29 over 130,000 passengers were impacted by 
cancellations.

    Question 5. Will Alaska Airlines commit to providing full cash 
refunds to all impacted consumers? If not, explain why not and what 
compensation you will issue to consumers.
    Answer. As mentioned above, and consistent with our policy and 
Federal law, Alaska is providing prompt refunds back to the original 
form of payment to guests that choose not to accept the alternatives 
offered for a canceled flight or for significantly delayed flights.

    Question 6. What is the total value of unrefunded tickets, 
unredeemed flight credits, and other similar stored value mechanisms 
that Alaska Airlines owe consumers for these cancellations? Please 
provide the amount of each value mechanism as well.
    Answer. The company processes refunds as our customers request 
them. If no refund is processed, these tickets will retain their value 
for the 12-month period of validity as mentioned above and in our 
contract of carriage.
    In addition to unused tickets that have not yet been refunded, we 
issued approximately $38 million in refunds over the period from 
December 22 to December 29, $25 million of which were refunded in the 
form of travel credits. These refunds include those for cancelled 
flights during this time or for future travel. If the flights were 
canceled or significantly delayed, and the customer did not accept an 
alternative offered by Alaska, the values were refunded to the original 
form of payment.

    Question 7. By when does Alaska Airlines plan to have fully 
reimbursed consumers?
    Answer. As mentioned above, Alaska is current on refunds due to 
customers that have requested them. We fully expect further refund 
requests to come in from customers over the weeks and even months ahead 
and we will endeavor to process all refunds promptly according to DOT 
requirements.

    Question 8. Please explain the causes of the recent flight 
cancellations as well as the steps that Alaska Airlines is implementing 
to prevent a repeat of these cancellations.
    Answer. Despite our efforts to overstaff the holiday travel season 
in case of unforeseen challenges, for the week leading up to Christmas 
and into New Year Alaska Airlines was impacted by winter weather in the 
Pacific Northwest followed and combined with increased staffing 
challenges due to the omicron COVID-19 variant. We know that it's 
incredibly frustrating when travel doesn't go as planned, especially as 
many of us are eager to connect with friends and family.
    The safety of our operation is our top priority so when it comes to 
winter weather we need to take the added time to de-ice aircraft and 
ensure that we're working with the FAA and our airport partners to have 
a safe and metered operation, as well as ensuring our crew is compliant 
with all FAA-regulated duty periods. That also means when it comes to 
COVID we ensure our crew are safe and keeping each other safe if 
they've been exposed to COVID-19 and are following all protocols both 
required by the government, and by Alaska Airlines.
    Throughout December and into January we used our full toolbox to 
communicate with guests and reaccommodate them as much as possible, 
including keeping our blog updated daily, using social media, personal 
calls, etc. Additionally, we offered flexible travel policies for our 
guests.
    As we entered 2022, our leadership made the call to proactively 
reduce the schedule by 10 percent to rebuild reliability in our 
operation. I would welcome you to read our statement here: https://
blog.alaskaair.com/alaska-airlines/operations/schedule-changes-ahead/. 
Finally, Alaska Airlines Chief Operating Officer, Constance von Muehlen 
sent a video message to every impacted guest. In her video she both 
apologized and outlined that we are continuing a review of our 
operations to ensure we can avoid similar situations when we face 
confluences of events such as those faced at the end of December 2021 
and into 2022.

    Question 9. Does Alaska Airlines maintain interline agreements with 
other carriers to allow passengers affected by disruptions an alternate 
means of getting to their destinations? If not, why not?
    Answer. Alaska maintains interline agreements with many of the 
major U.S. airlines and we utilize those agreements where possible to 
provide alternate means of getting our customers to their destinations.

                                  [all]