Mnuchin to Provide Airlines With Draft Details on Loans, Grants

(Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he will provide preliminary details to airlines on how to access billions of dollars in loans and grants as they cope with a dramatic drop in revenue amid the coronavirus crisis.

Mnuchin said he will update President Donald Trump on Thursday on the Treasury Department’s latest analysis on how to help airlines.

“That’s the next big thing we’ll be rolling out,” he said on CNBC. “We hope to get to a lot of the airlines starting tomorrow and over the weekend with preliminary information.”

U.S. airlines’ desperate bid for billions in government rescue cash is being frustrated by a lengthening process and demands that companies provide more detailed financial information, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

Mnuchin reiterated that the government will not bail out airlines. He said the government wants to make sure airlines “have the liquidity to keep their workers in place.”

The preliminary data that Treasury will provide to some airlines will be for passenger and cargo carriers and will focus on payroll support grants, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The $2 trillion federal stimulus includes payroll grants of $25 billion for passenger airlines, $4 billion for cargo haulers and $3 billion for airline contractors, plus another $29 billion in loans for passenger and cargo carriers and $10 billion in grants to airports.

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