James Oberstar: “The events of Tuesday, as the chairman has already expressed, have thrown the airline industry, as the first line of…”

“The events of Tuesday, as the chairman has already expressed, have thrown the airline industry, as the first line of target of terrorism, into an absolute tailspin. The industry has been shut down. It has no revenue streaming in, it has costs going out. It has to pay its pilots, its flight attendants, its mechanics, baggage handlers, and other personnel. They are under contract to do so. They have no revenue coming in. When air travel does resume, two revenue streams have already been denied the airlines: mail and cargo aboard passenger aircraft. Airlines are collectively losing some $340 million to $400 million a day. They have already lost over $1 billion, and over this weekend will accumulate losses of up to $5 billion. The industry could be in complete financial liquidation within a week or two. What we have proposed in this legislation is an authorization from, listen to the language, from funds made available in subsequent acts. This is not money coming out of the appropriation we approved earlier in the day.”