In a letter written on Wednesday, 16 Republican senators gave support towards extending payroll stimulus relief to the airline industry through March 31st, 2021. The airline industry had received a $31 billion stimulus package, the CARES relief package, in March that protected employees on payroll through September 30th. With that date approaching, where it seemed likely that 76,000 employees would be laid off, the senators added their support to the proposed $25 billion stimulus package which had already garnered support from most Democratic senators and had been heavily lobbied by six of the leading airline labor unions. The airline industry has seen a 75% drop in air traffic due to the pandemic.
See "Airline industry likely to have Congressional support for extending payroll aid relief through March 2021", Ted Reed, Forbes, August 7, 2020