Actually, I don't think that US Government is paying the airlines , but they are providing "loan guarantees". With this those airlines that get the approval are able to go to the market and issue some debt medium to keep the things rolling. If this was not the case they wouldn't be able to borrow any more. Imagine being UAL with $10bil. debt and losing money. Nobody in their right mind would give their money to a company like that.. As far as I understand this is what's different between the loan guarantees and the cash injection they received after 9/11. My $0.02. BAHA Fan of UA, US and all the airlines recovering and hiring again. -----Original Message----- From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of Addison Schonland Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 9:31 AM To: AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU Subject: Thanks for Nothing Now that US Airways is bankrupt and United Airlines is following its vapor trail into the abyss of insolvency, here's a question worth asking: What happened to all that money we gave the ailing airline industry after Sept. 11? Congress allocated $15 billion to save the carriers after the terrorist attacks, of which $5 billion were outright grants. Of that, US Airways pocketed $287 million and United took $724 million. Are these airlines going down and taking our tax dollars with them? Read more at http://www.elliott.org/vault/oped/2002/thanks.htm