Arlington, Va. — Yesterday, Congress passed H.R. 133, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. The legislation includes an extension of Section 3610 of the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program. While this is important to aerospace and national security operations, more must be done to save the tens-of-thousands of U.S. aviation manufacturing jobs that are at risk due to the downturn in global air travel. Today, Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO Eric Fanning released the following statement:
“Aerospace and defense companies of all sizes continue to support the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic—aided by relief provided early in the crisis. As normal operations were put on hold, Section 3610 of the CARES Act was a lifeline for our industrial base. It ensured that aerospace and defense employees could continue to access their worksites and support vital NASA and national security programs. The extension of Section 3610 and the Paycheck Protection Program will help companies large and small continue to protect the health and wellbeing of their workers as they support U.S. national security and the pandemic response.
“However, as the public health crisis wears on, the risk of even more job losses at all levels of our shared aerospace and defense supply chain grows. Our communities and our country cannot afford to lose the highly skilled, experienced workers who contribute greatly to our national and economic security. Moving forward, we urge Congress to take swift steps to establish an aviation worker payroll support program and save these critical American jobs.”
To learn more about the bipartisan congressional proposals to help prevent further aviation manufacturing industry layoffs, click here and here.
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