Michelle Wu: “I believe that this direct handout to the airlines of almost $3.2 billion is not the correct way to proceed. Our…”

“I believe that this direct handout to the airlines of almost $3.2 billion is not the correct way to proceed. Our amendment, the freedom to fly amendment, would put this money into the hands of passengers. It would stimulate more passenger traffic, put more people on more airplanes, and in so doing also stimulate the ancillary travel industry; that is, all the other components of the travel industry, whether it is hotels, restaurants, car rental, all the businesses that are at airports. And this would also help airline employees in a market-oriented commonsense approach. Right now approximately 25 percent of airline seats are going unfilled and we know that a lot of flights have already been cut. The freedom to fly amendment would fill these empty seats and I believe stimulates the airlines to bring more flights on line, preserving jobs and generating additional revenues both for the airlines and for all the affiliated travel businesses.”