During the COVID-19 pandemic the airline industry was hit hard, so they requested federal funding to support workers and now lawmakers are inquiring about how the funds were used. At the industry’s request, Congress created the Payroll Support Program which gave billions in federal payroll support to help avoid, and barred, layoffs, involuntary furloughs and pay cuts. Senator Maria Cantwell has written to the CEOs of 6 major airlines asking for them to account for their use of the federal aid as well as a staffing report at the end of the month. Cantwell asserts that the reported workforce shortage and flight delays conflict with the objective of the Payroll Support System and airlines need to explain where their relief aid was used.
See "US airlines are under questioning about worker shortages and flight delays", Veronica Stracqualursi and Aileen Graef, CNN, July 19, 2021