Airlines in the United States and Europe are canceling flights and drawing up job cuts while seeking government support to tackle the biggest downturn in the industry, caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

American Airlines Group, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines Holdings and Southwest Airlines say they are discussing receiving government assistance but have not disclosed details.

Germany and France are mulling financial support to help Lufthansa and Air France-KLM get through the crisis. The head of the Norwegian Air Shuttle acknowledged that the carrier was on edge and asked for help. The Italian government is considering pouring 300 million EUR into struggling Alitalia and may take on the airline.

The UK’s aviation industry needs 9.2 billion USD in government support, according to Peter Norris, chairman of Virgin Galactic Airways in a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, scheduled to be sent on Monday.

The economic impact of the pandemic has hit airlines around the world as people cancel their trips, and many governments have already imposed restrictions on flights to and from countries with the highest levels of infection. US President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend flights from Europe is expected to have serious implications for the transatlantic aviation market, which is usually the most lucrative in the industry.

Yesterday, Donald Trump said he was expanding his ban, and it already covers Britain and Ireland. The current restrictions on Europe affect about 7,300 flights to the US, or more than 2 million one-way tickets within a month. With the UK and Ireland, the affected flights are increasing by 4,300 more.

“This is a global crisis like no other we know”, said the British Airways chief executive Alex Cruz in a note to staff. “This is worse than the SARS epidemic at the beginning of the millennium, September 11, 2001 and the financial crisis in 2008-2009”, he explained.