As politicians discuss giving airline-specific aid, remember US top airlines got a huge windfall under the 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act. They then spent $45billion on share buybacks. Not jobs. When COVID hit, they got another $50 billion. And still, layoffs. https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/the-heist/better-off-american-airlines-tax-cuts/">https://publicintegrity.org/inequalit...
After their tax windfall, American gave employees a one-time $1000 bonus. @TWUIVP told reporter @checaballero "while we were getting this little baby infusion of money ..corporate America was reaping rewards that are our hundreds upon hundreds of millions"
Attendant @DeborahVolpe2: "All we got was $1k. So now you’re sounding ungrateful for $1k and you’re not ungrateful, but...Show us how you’re putting it back into our company and back for us, your frontline employees." https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-off/id1530138961?i=1000493997177">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...
American Airlines did invest in new airplanes and buildings—although that was paid for with $24 billion in new debt. All this meant the airline was not saving up for the unexpected, when the pandemic hit, said #TheHeist host & @columbiajourn prof @sherships
“It did not help American that they spent billions on buybacks. It did not help their employees..They didn& #39;t pay off new airplanes, they didn& #39;t contribute a lot of cash to this pension that they could have.”— analyst Arne Alsin. https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/the-heist/better-off-transcript/">https://publicintegrity.org/inequalit...
In a statement, American Airlines said, "No amount of a rainy day fund would have prepared American or any other airline for COVID-19 and the devastating impact it has had on demand for air travel.”
Not true, said Nobel Prize-economist @JosephEStiglitz. "Corporations were in a position to use that revenue to create buffers. But instead, the money went right out the door, leaving taxpayers now to pick up the tab for their lack of foresight." #TheHeist
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