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Airlines ask for a bailout — and they won’t be alone

A week ago, major U.S. airlines said that they could absorb the costs of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, after travel bans around the world, they’ve approached the government for help.

They’re asking for over $50 billion, the WSJ reports. And carriers like Delta and American are also asking banks for billions in loans. That’s not including the $10 billion that U.S. airports reportedly want, or the unknown amount that Boeing is said to be negotiating for itself and its suppliers.

“We’re going to back the airlines 100 percent,” President Trump said at a news conference yesterday. But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the assistance wouldn’t be a bailout. “If you’re providing liquidity to good businesses that just need liquidity for three to six months, where you’re taking collateral and you have security, that’s not a bailout,” he said.

The thing is … The five biggest U.S. carriers spent 96 percent of their free cash flow over the past decade on stock buybacks, according to Bloomberg.