And i want to thank my colleague and Ranking Member, senator cantwell, for her cooperation in this regard, and for all of our staff. Convenes toe today discuss the state of the Aviation Industry. Witnesses, which are limited in number by the guidance we received from the senate, include nic calio, president and chief executive officer of airlines for america, todd president and chief executive officer of the American Association of airport effectives, eric fanning, president of the chief executive officer of the Aerospace Industries association, and remotely, dr. Hilary godwin, dean of school of Public Health university of washington. No part of the American Economy has escaped the impact of the covid 19 pandemic. The air and transportation sector has suffered a particularly painful blow, one intensified by Global Travel resections and stay at home orders, Domestic Travel has declined over 95 compared to last year. Flying with 12 passengers on average. Half of the u. S. Passenger aircraft fleet is sitting idle. The air cargo sector is marginally better, but still struggling. Just last month, demand for air cargo plunged 15 , and transport capacity declined about 1 5 compared to last years figures. Even as the Global Economy recovers, the future remains troubling for aviation. By new booking is down 97 yearoveryear. A recent International Air travel Association Survey shows that 40 of passengers planned to wait at least six months before booking a ticket. I certainly hope they will think that. The situation is dire not only for airlines and for their workers, but also for the air transportation sector. Which relies upon a vast ecosystem in order to function. This section are sector includes airports and their concessions, maintenance and repair stations, ticket space operators, and other Ground Support contractors, and the entire Aerospace Industrial base. A lot of these businesses are momandpop operations. Many of their hours, many of their workers are hourly, living paychecktopaycheck. I would welcome our witnesses comments on the current state of aviation, and thoughts on the future. Congress has recognized the importance of preserving the air and transportation sector, which is critical for so many other industries and our society generally. The cares act and through that includes 32 billion for support in assistance for air carriers and contractors. Administered by the treasury, the Payroll Support Program has prevented mass layoffs across the industry. All 13 Major Airlines and hundreds of regional and small carriers have signed up to participate. Billions of dollars in assistance has already been provided, recognizing the great need for liquidity. The cares act also included 29 billion in loans within the treasurys Economic Stabilization fund, esf, for air carriers, Aviation Repair repair stations, and ticket stations. In doing so, congress provided not much provided muchneeded liquidity, not a bailout. There are measures in the Payroll Support Program, and esf loans must be paid back with interest. Beyond direct payroll support and loans, the cares act with ad further relief tax holiday for commercial flights and passengers through the end of the calendar year. The cares act also requires the secretary of transportation to impose reasonable continuation of Service Obligations on airlines receiving assistance. Areasans living in rural and small communities deserve the access to air travel and congo cargo delivery. The cares act delivered 10 billion into the nations airports to help them maintain operations and to service debts. The committee is interested in hearing the witnesss views on the cares act. We would also welcome perspectives on priorities for future and potential litigation. No act of congress can help the industry if it is unsafe for passengers and crew makers to fly, and for other aviation workers to do their jobs. To that end, the committee is interested in the steps being taken to protect workers and the flying public. The air transportation Public Sector bears a special responsibility to prepare for and actively mitigate Communicable Disease outbreaks. Covid19 is the latest outbreak, but it will not be the last. Air travel is the crucial element that can turn a local outbreak affecting a few, into a Global Pandemic affecting billions of human beings. The committee would welcome the witnesss views on the need for new regulations or standards at both the national and International Levels to harden the air transportation sector against the possibility of future pandemics. I want to thank our distinguished panel for participating today and express our sincere gratitude for everything the industry is doing to help our nation whether this crisis. I now turn to my friend, Ranking Member cantwell, for her comments. Sen. Cantwell thank you mr. Chairman, and thank you for holding this important hearing. I want to note that while my colleague, senator blumenthal is here along with me, that we have six or seven of our colleagues were joining us remotely, and we thank them for being part of this hearing today. The impact of the covid 19 pandemicpandemic is fundamentala Public Health crisis, but its impact on the economy is global without parallel. The coronavirus has heightened the importance and also the vulnerability of our aviation ecosystem. We need to connect america, its communities, and we need to keep employing people around the globe. We have learned, just as with the spanish flu, that this virus travels through people and transportation routes and sectors. So we know we are here today to talk about what are the impacts of the virus on aviation, and what do we need to do for the future to better prepare. On march 27, the cares act was signed into law, and restored part of a 2 trillion rescue package was pacifically dedicating 32 billion in payroll assistance for workers, and 46 billion dollars in loans to stabilize americas aviation sector. We are going to hear today from some of the witnesses to talk about that. But particularly i want to emphasize the fact that we want to hear from the Treasury Office about the Payroll Support Program, and ensuring that the cares act was used specifically to support payroll protection. I also want to hear from the Aviation Manufacturing sector, and what this legislation has done to help us keep essential aviation workers that are so critical for americas competitiveness in a manufacturing economy. Seearticular, we want to how the aviation sector is responding post this covid cares act legislation, but we are very concerned that one hours are being reduced of aviation, Airline Workers, this is counter what the legislation entailed. I will be sending a letter along with senators brown and schumer to the treasury secretary to clarify that mandatory, or force reductions in payroll hours is not what the cares act intended. We recognize the challenges facing the industry, and we recognize the challenges in facing this disease. We know that demand has plummeted and that airplanes are grounded and that airports have been empty, so we are going to hear today about those challenges and how we can keep moving forward to protect the flying public as they return. We are going to hear from a witness eric fanning who is going to talk about how this business was critical to National Security of the aviation sector, and what we can do to continue to move forward with getting manufacturing in a safe environment. M are also going to hear from hauptli about airports. Clearly they have been impacted by revenue, and cares act helped with resources to sustain them through this crisis. I especially want to welcome and hear from dr. Hilary godwin, dean of the Washington School of Public Health and professor of Occupational Health sciences p while we are focusing on the impacts we need to listen to our scientists like dr. Godwin. They will tell us how best to protect workers, they will tell us how to best protect the public, and particularly in the case of resurgence. Dr. Godwins expertise has played a strong and active role in washingtons response to the coronavirus, and right now i believe that we need multiple federal agencies like cdc, nih, dhs, and d. O. T. To better coordinate information to the traveling public about the phases of reopening. We have states and Public Health authorities across the country looking for leadership to tell our aviation traveling public what are the most necessary procedures, and how to follow them. Want to see a balkanization of safety issues where everybody has somewhat poor of an opinion, or even of the industry. I want to see a uniformed standard that this is what safety and aviation requires on the manufacturing side, in our airports, and on our plans. So i look forward to hearing from our witnesses today. We need to show the traveling public that we can make aviation safe for the future. We need to discuss what those Solutions Look Like today and make sure that we are enforcing Public Health standards in reaching those goals. So thank you mr. Chairman for having the hearing. I would, if i could, also enter into the record a letter from the association of flight attendants under testimony as a relates to the covid package and the Payroll Support Program, making sure that workers are not forcefully reduced in hours. Sen. Wicker without objection, that letter will be admitted into the record at this point. I wish the viewing public could see how scrupulously we are honoring the distancing requirements. Witnessesly see our down at the other end, but we have monitors also. We appreciate you being here. I know it has come at some inconvenience, so thank you all. And we will begin with the honorable eric fanning. Mr. Fanning, you are recognized for five minutes to summarize your testimony. The entire statement will be included in the record, of course. Hon. Fanning chairman wicker, Ranking Member cantwell, and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me today to discuss this important topic. The covid 19 pandemic touches every person, family, business, industry, and economy. It is a global threat that we must all do our part to overcome. With that goal in mind, the aerospace and Defense Industry has been focused on three critical lines of effort. First, protecting the health and economic wellness of our workforce, which is vital to our industry and nation pits second, supporting our Industry Partners and shared supply chain. Third, helping our communities and country with the covid19 response. The Aerospace Industry has been hit hard by this pandemic. Especially with the decline in air travel worldwide. Air travel in 2020 is estimated to drop at least 50 from 2019. As a result, a substantial number of orders have been canceled over the past few weeks come on top of cancellations experienced over the past year. Due to this decrease in demand, our members have already announced layoffs and furloughs. Including one company that had to lay off 50 of its onion engine many factory staff. Unfortunately we may see more in the future. Unlike others, our Companies Must also weigh the impact on our nations security. As many cross over into civil and defense sectors, even a copy with only 10 of its business on National Security can affect critical defense projects if their work is placed on a fold, or they have to close. And while some industries see business return quickly, the nature of our industry and customers involved longterm. Not weeks, but years. There are many reasons for that. Even once orders for new aircraft are made again, it take it takes longer to build and deliver a plane then it does a pizza. Our workers are also some of the most skilled in the world. If we do not keep them employed, we can see workforce shortages when orders for products and maintenance start again. The industrys recovery will also be affected by the success of other nations battling the epidemic and how quickly passengers around the world returned to the skies. This is a shared responsibility of the companys represented before you today. On the manufacturing side for example, we are confident that the air exchange and Filtration Systems use in our plans can help mitigate the risk of the spread of the virus. And we are working to share this Safety Information with our customers and the public. And our Airline Partners already have strong disinfection standards in place. And we are coming together to enhance them through partnerships at this table, and in our international organization, the international coordinate and council of Aerospace Industries associations. We are also working with the international sibley Asian InternationalCivil Aviation to ensure the best disinfection methods and products consistently in air travel around the world. Ultimately, how people feel about flying is what will give a lift to our interconnected industries. Thankfully, congress and the administration have taken action. The federal effort to designate several manufacturing efforts is essential. It is helping many of our members both protect jobs and stabilize the Defense Industrial base. The dods assistance also helped millionsnys advance of dollars in vital liquidity to Small Businesses in our shared supply chain. The cares act also provided important tools to navigate this crisis, like the paycheck protection plan. Which our company is described as a lifeline. In a recent survey of our members, over 60 of those who responded applied to ppp. When companies did not qualify, the number jumped to 80 . We believe there can be improvements. Two of the most article tools possesses need in a crisis are cash flow influx ability. Unfortunately, some of the aid programs had conditions that prevented companies from assessing the aid at the speed influx ability required. Moving forward, the safety of our employees remains our top priority. That is why we are developing safety recommendations for companies returning the facilities. These will be based on Lessons Learned from our essential businesses who are still safely operating. We also look to congress to both build on aid already provided, and help shape policies to jumpstart the recovery. One potential step is analyzing aid criteria and conditions and determine the best way to make it easier to access help. We also request temporary and targeted assistance for the ailing Aviation Manufacturing sector. Support in our industry for a Publicprivate Partnership to protect jobs and keep at risk employees on the payroll through the pandemic. This would help with what is most important to us, keeping our workers employed while also helping to unburden state implement programs. Finally, we must continue to privatize research and develop, because investing in the future is vital in maintaining our global leadership. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Sen. Wicker thank you very much. Mr. Calio, you are recognized. Mr. Calio m ion . Am i on . Thank you for holding this hearing. Sen. Wicker i see you sent your grandfather. [laughter] mr. Calio yes, sir, i did. Rf. Her that or papa smui sen. Wicker santa claus, it looks like. Reset the timer. Mr. Calio sincerely, on behalf 0,000 employees and nations airlines, we want to thank you for passing the cares act. In particular chairman wicker, thank you and your staff or your unwavering leadership during the legislative debate. Ranking member cantwell, you and your staff as well, thank you. U. S. Airlines were among the First Industries to feel the Economic Impacts of the pandemic, and without the passage of the cares act, the nearterm impacts of covid19 would have been even more devastating than they have been. We are thankful to many, but this committee in particular send the industry a lifeline during its most humbling moment, and it is something that we really did need. In preparing these remarks, i thought back just a few short weeks ago, and it was just a few short weeks ago. Its a very different world now. At that time, u. S. Airlines were experiencing what was called by some the golden age of aviation. Americans were flying and shipping in record numbers. That was driven by two main factors affordability and accessibility. Air travel was more accessible than ever. Just weeks ago, u. S. Airlines were flying an average of 2. 5 million passengers each day, shipping 58,000 tons of cargo every day all over the world. Amid record travel and shipping, u. S. Airlines reinvested in their workforce. Collectively they spent 424 billion on their employees in the last dec