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United Airlines said yesterday that it is preparing to furlough 16,370 workers when federal aid expires on Oct. 1 as the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate the airline industry, though one union said many more people will be without pay, Reuters reported. United’s cuts include 6,920 flight attendants, but the union representing them said 14,000 will not have a paycheck in October unless Congress acts to extend $25 billion in aid. This is because many have opted for leaves that will provide healthcare but no money, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International President Sara Nelson said. Airlines have been lobbying Washington for a second stimulus package to protect jobs through March while the industry awaits a recovery. The first $25 billion, which covered airline payrolls, expires this month, but talks have stalled as Congress has struggled to reach agreement on a broader coronavirus assistance package. Chicago-based United had over 90,000 employees before the pandemic brought the industry to a near standstill in March. It warned in July that 36,000 jobs were at risk of involuntary furloughs as demand remained weak.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority will acquire the Las Vegas Monorail system, but how long it will operate the 3.9-mile electric transit system is another question, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The LVCVA’s board of directors approved the $24.26 million acquisition in a series of three 12-1 votes with Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman voting against it in each case. Tuesday’s votes were the first step toward operating the system, which has been dormant since March because of the coronavirus pandemic. LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill told the board the system could be obsolete in eight to 10 years because the manufacturer of the monorail train sets no longer makes the cars. The LVCVA has said that it would contract for the management and operation of the monorail after the closing of the purchase. That agreement would come to the board at a future meeting. It’s unclear whether Las Vegas Monorail Co. President Curtis Myles or other staff members would be involved with the system once the deal closes. Myles, who attended the LVCVA board meeting, said his attorneys have advised him not to comment on his status or that of other employees until the monorail company files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The LVCVA would collaborate on the pre- packaged bankruptcy filing.” Earlier Tuesday, Hill appeared before the Clark County Commission to win permission for the LVCVA to take over the monorail’s franchise agreement with the county.

Amtrak, the passenger railroad agency, said that it will furlough over 2,000 workers in the coming weeks because of a steep decline in ridership and revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Times reported. The job cuts represent nearly 10 percent of Amtrak’s roughly 20,000-member work force and will take effect as the agency begins its new fiscal year, which starts in October. The rail agency will cut 1,950 workers from its unionized work force and 100 employees from its management ranks. Cuts among union jobs could increase or decrease by 2 percent, officials noted in an internal email. The reductions come as Amtrak’s response to historic fiscal challenges receives scrutiny from rail advocates and federal lawmakers. Critics say that the agency should focus less on cuts to its work force and declines in service and instead ensure the rail network operates close to normal at a time when it is seen as an attractive alternative to air travel. In some areas of the U.S., Amtrak provides the lone mode of public transportation, rail advocates say. Since March, ridership on Amtrak has fallen by 95 percent, and projected revenue for 2021 has declined by 50 percent. In response, Congress has bailed out the rail network with nearly $1 billion in emergency funds. But William J. Flynn, Amtrak’s chief executive, has asked lawmakers for an additional $1.4 billion in emergency funds, predicting revenue and ridership will continue to remain low into 2021.

Ford Motor Co. said yesterday that it is targeting the elimination of 1,400 U.S. salaried jobs by year end as part of a multiyear $11 billion restructuring, Reuters reported. The layoffs will be achieved through voluntary buyouts, the U.S. automaker said in an email sent to employees. The buyouts will be offered to employees who are eligible for retirement. Ford has said it was targeting a 10 percent operating margin in North America. Last year, before the coronavirus pandemic hit operations, Ford’s North American operating margin was 6.7 percent. The Dearborn, Mich.-based company previously said it expects a full-year loss because of the pandemic’s impact. It expects a pre-tax profit of between $500 million and $1.5 billion in the third quarter, and a loss in the fourth quarter as it launches several new vehicles. 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged Congress to appropriate more money to combat the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, saying at a hearing yesterday that he was ready to sit down with Democratic leaders to resume negotiations at any time, the Wall Street Journal reported. For more than a month since key provisions of the landmark CARES Act expired, Democrats and Republicans have been at loggerheads over the size and content of another relief package. House Democrats in May proposed an additional $3.5 trillion of relief, while Senate Republicans rolled out a $1 trillion bill in July. Without a new agreement, jobless workers have gone without a $600 federal supplement to weekly unemployment insurance since July 31, and a federal eviction moratorium expired on July 25, leaving millions of tenants at risk of losing their homes. In yesterday’s hearing, Mnuchin suggested that the gap between the two sides may be narrowing and mentioned a new, higher number for the administration’s proposed ceiling for a follow-on bill: $1.5 trillion. The secretary also indicated that the Trump administration has softened its opposition to a Democratic proposal to apportion more money for state and local governments. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

In related news, Fed Governor Lael Brainard said yesterday that the Federal Reserve “in coming months” will need to roll out new efforts to help the economy overcome the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and live up to the U.S. central bank’s new promise of stronger job growth and higher inflation, Reuters reported. “With the recovery likely to face COVID-19-related headwinds for some time, in coming months, it will be important for monetary policy to pivot from stabilization to accommodation,” Brainard said, and do what’s appropriate to hit the new goals of “maximum employment and average inflation of 2% over time.” That decision “will be guided” by the new strategy which trades risks of higher inflation with efforts to promote further job growth, she said. Brainard, among the architects of the new long-term strategy the central bank adopted last week, is the first Fed official to tie that new approach directly to the need for further monetary stimulus, likely in the form of more aggressive bond-buying or more ambitious promises about returning the country to low unemployment. Read more.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday that the Trump administration and Senate Republicans have been in regular contact over possible coronavirus relief measures and the Senate’s top Republican will “hopefully” unveil a new bill next week,  Reuters reported. Asked about the collapse of talks with Democrats over aid legislation, Mnuchin said that he and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have been speaking regularly with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. “Hopefully Mitch will enter new legislation next week,” Mnuchin said. No negotiations on another round of coronavirus aid have taken place since early August, when talks collapsed as Congressional Democrats and the Republican Trump administration could not bridge a gap of more than $1 trillion between their proposed relief packages for small businesses, state and local governments, school districts and health care providers. Trump has since signed an executive order extending expired supplemental unemployment benefits and deferring some payroll taxes, but details on implementation have been uncertain. Mnuchin is due to testify today before the Democrat-controlled House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on the administration’s economic response. Republicans who control the U.S. Senate have discussed proceeding with their own legislation that would be narrower than the House’s $3 trillion plan approved in May, but thus far have not introduced any new proposals. Some Republicans oppose new aid out of concern for a massive and growing budget deficit predicted to approach $4 trillion this year. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said that 40 states are now signed up to provide their residents with an extra $300 or $400 in unemployment, the New York Times reported. The benefit was originally envisioned by President Trump as an extra $400 to unemployed workers, with the federal government providing $300 and the states providing $100. But states balked at the additional cost, and now the states’ standard unemployment benefit is counted as their contribution. Workers who are not eligible for at least $100 in unemployment will not receive the additional benefit. So far, only three states, Kentucky, Montana and West Virginia, have decided to supply the extra $100. Vermont’s plan to bring the total payment to $400 is awaiting approval from the state’s legislature. South Dakota’s governor has said the state will not apply. That leaves nine other states that have either not applied or have not been approved: Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, North Dakota, Wisconsin and South Carolina. Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Wisconsin say they have applied or will apply. Kansas says that it has applied and intends to supply the extra $100 to bring the total payment to $400. Most states won’t be able to start paying the benefit until mid-September or even October. And the payments are expected to last only four or five weeks.

Casino operator MGM Resorts International informed its staff on Friday that it would lay off 18,000 furloughed employees in the U.S. as the coronavirus-induced travel curbs hurt its operations, Reuters reported. The company will start the process today, according to a letter from Chief Executive Officer Bill Hornbuckle to employees and seen by Reuters. MGM employed nearly 52,000 fulltime and 18,000 part-time people in the U.S. as of Dec. 31. “Federal law requires companies to provide a date of separation for furloughed employees who are not recalled within six months. Regrettably, August 31, marks (that) date,” Hornbuckle said in the letter. MGM was forced to close all of its casinos and furlough about 62,000 of its workforce in the United States in March due to the lockdowns. It brought back tens of thousands of employees when many of its casinos opened for business as the restrictions eased, but it still had to leave out 18,000 of them.

Coca-Cola Co. on Friday joined a list of big U.S. companies laying off thousands of workers in response to the coronavirus crisis, offering voluntary deals across its businesses and promising to halve its number of operating units, Reuters reported. The company was offering voluntary redundancy to 4,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada and would offer similar deals in other markets, it said in a statement, while also signaling other layoffs were likely to follow. “The voluntary program is expected to reduce the number of involuntary separations,” the world’s largest beverage maker said, adding that the global severance programs would incur expenses of about $350 million to $550 million. The company, battling a hit to sales from closures of bars, restaurants and cinemas where it normally sells heavily, said it would have nine operating units that would sit under four geographical segments, along with global ventures and bottling investments divisions. Coca-Cola last month reported a 28 percent slump in sales in the “most challenging” quarter of the year due to coronavirus-triggered closures of restaurants, theaters and sports venues.

The White House wants the Treasury Department to ensure that companies, not workers, will be held liable for paying the employee portion of the payroll tax when President Trump’s tax holiday ends, the New York Times reported. The Treasury Department has not been willing to issue such guidance, though it is unclear why. Businesses, which have been fielding questions from their employees about when the tax cuts will begin, would prefer that Congress legislate any changes to tax policy. It is also not clear that the White House would have the legal authority to shift the tax burden in such a manner. The president’s executive order suspends payments, but employees will be on the hook to pay the deferred taxes back when the tax holiday ends. Many companies are expected to opt out of participating to avoid sticking their employees with a giant bill next year.