>it is just going to prop up the industry for another quarter or two, when I don't believe that demand for air travel will return to pre-pandemic levels any time soon
This is 100% correct. Even if a vaccine were to be approved by the end of this year, it will take until mid/late next year before most of the developed world has received it. In the meantime, companies continue to find new ways of working remotely (I'm a tech consultant and have spent most of the last 20 years flying every week on Monday and back on Thursday, haven't flown since mid March). Extending the CARES Act airline bailout for another 3-6 months is not going to solve the problem, and continuously extending it for another 12+ months is not viable and a complete waste of money. The government should be figuring out other ways of redirecting resources idled by the pandemic, not propping up zombie companies forever.
This is 100% correct. Even if a vaccine were to be approved by the end of this year, it will take until mid/late next year before most of the developed world has received it. In the meantime, companies continue to find new ways of working remotely (I'm a tech consultant and have spent most of the last 20 years flying every week on Monday and back on Thursday, haven't flown since mid March). Extending the CARES Act airline bailout for another 3-6 months is not going to solve the problem, and continuously extending it for another 12+ months is not viable and a complete waste of money. The government should be figuring out other ways of redirecting resources idled by the pandemic, not propping up zombie companies forever.