Arlington, Va. – Today, Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO Eric Fanning released the following statement on the introduction of the Private-Public Partnership to Preserve Jobs in the Aviation Manufacturing Industry Act of 2020 by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Mark Warner (D-VA):
“As our airline customers suffer, decline in air travel is also reverberating across the aviation manufacturing sector. The result is the cancellation of orders and a decreased demand for maintenance and repairs, which in turn, is helping lead to significant layoffs and furloughs in companies of all sizes. Temporary and targeted assistance is needed to help save these jobs. The private-public investment envisioned in this bill will provide such support by helping to keep at-risk employees on payroll, while also helping to unburden state unemployment programs. Senators Moran and Warner—bipartisan co-chairs of the Senate Aerospace Caucus—are showing real leadership in proposing this common sense plan to provide companies and employees support as they navigate this crisis and prepare for a strong American recovery.”
Last week, Fanning testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation industry. In his recommendations to jumpstart America’s recovery, Fanning called on Congress to consider a private-public partnership to aid the workers of the ailing aviation manufacturing sector.
The Private-Public Partnership to Preserve Jobs in the Aviation Manufacturing Industry Act would establish a temporary, emergency cost sharing program through which the federal government would provide up to 50 percent of total compensation for at-risk employee groups so long as company commits to continuing their employment. This legislation would prevent further layoffs in aviation manufacturing by allowing employees to remain on the job and fully compensated for their work.
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