The Week Ahead in Aviation: Coronavirus Dominates Capitol Hill Agenda; Please Urge Lawmakers to Address Airport Needs and Concerns

The government's response to the coronavirus pandemic has fully consumed the agenda in Washington and is likely to dominate Capitol Hill for the foreseeable future. The aviation system will see additional impacts when the administration's restrictions on travel from the Schengen Area of 26 European countries to the United States takes effect at midnight tonight. As the situation evolves rapidly, please continue to share with us any impacts you are seeing at your airport. We also urge you to reach out to your Representative and two Senators in support of addressing evolving airport needs and concerns in any potential legislative relief package.

 

On Capitol Hill, the House aims to pass a bill today that would, among other things, provide free testing for the virus, put in place two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family leave, bolster unemployment benefits, ensure school lunches for those who need them and boost Medicaid funding.

 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been working the past few days to finalize a deal that could be supported by both the Democratic House and the administration. Assuming the administration is supportive, the Senate is expected to take up the measure early next week - although the dynamic could be upended at a moment's notice with a single tweet from President Trump. The bill being negotiated would be the second measure to respond to the virus following last week's enactment of a $8.3 billion package that provided new funding for state and local health agencies and vaccine and treatment development.

 

Looking forward, lawmakers are expected to draft a third legislative package to respond to coronavirus that could include relief for affected industries, including airlines, hotels and cruise ship operators. Secretary Mnuchin said this week that tax relief and loan guarantees to airlines would be a focus of the administration. Although the situation on Capitol Hill is in flux, it is clear that we will need to play both offense by pushing lawmakers to address airport concerns and defense against harmful proposals such as a ticket excise tax holiday and possibly a reprieve from either collecting or remitting PFCs.

 

Thank you to those of you who responded to our financial impact survey earlier this week. As the situation on the ground continues to evolve, please continue to keep us informed of any impacts at your airport and share any other information that would be helpful as we continue to communicate airport concerns to the administration, lawmakers, and their staff. The survey is available here. There is additional coronavirus-related information in our updates on the European travel restrictions and TSA guidance to Federal Security Directors and on the evolving situation on Capitol Hill and call to action to contact your congressional delegation.

 

 

TSA Administrator David Pekoske and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson each addressed the actions their agencies are taking in response to the coronavirus in separate hearings this week (see our Hearing Reports on TSA and FAA for more information). In addition, the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on the federal response, including testimony from Acting Deputy DHS Secretary Ken Cuccinelli.

Please contact Adam if you need additional information. Have a good weekend.