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Thursday, 14 May, 2020

FAA Safety Town Hall and Relief Guidance

Important guidance addressing key questions related to the PPP and Payroll Support Program has been released by the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Small Business Administration. Links to the guidance, as well as information on an FAA Aviation Safety Town Hall that may be of interest can be found below.  

NATA would like to make you aware of an Aviation Safety Town Hall that will be held today by the FAA from 2-4 p.m. Eastern. The virtual meeting will feature U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, representatives from mainline, regional, cargo air carriers, labor groups and their Air Traffic Organization. You can watch the live stream on FAA’s digital platforms and post questions to be answered by the panelists. The FAA’s Facebook page can be found here.

Last night, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Treasury issued guidance to answer lingering questions about the PPP program and stated that “the U.S. government will not challenge lender PPP actions that conform to this guidance, and to the PPP Interim Final Rules and any subsequent rulemaking in effect at the time.” Also included in the guidance is some reassurance for applicants who accepted PPP loans of under $2 million, “it will review all loans in excess of $2 million: in addition to other loans as appropriate, following the lender’s submission of the borrower’s loan forgiveness application.” SBA and Treasury also indicated that additional guidance on implementing this procedure will be forthcoming.   

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Treasury released additional guidance to the Payroll Support Program under Division A, Title IV, Subtitle B of the CARES Act. That guidance states, in part, “certain participants in the Payroll Support Program are required to provide financial instruments as appropriate compensation to the U.S. Government for the provision of the financial assistance. After consultation with the Department of Transportation and consistent with section 4117 of the CARES Act, Treasury determined that passenger air carriers receiving payroll support of more than $100 million, cargo air carriers receiving more than $50 million, and eligible contractors receiving more than $37.5 million are required to provide financial instruments as appropriate compensation. Participants that receive payroll support of more than $100 million are required to provide financial instruments to the U.S. Government in the form of a 10-year senior unsecured promissory note and warrants for shares of common stock.” Further the guidance states, “The Department of the Treasury is committed to implementing the CARES Act with transparency. The Treasury Department is providing information on the Payroll Support Program, including program participants, the amount of payroll support to such participants, and any financial instruments provided by the participants.”  

For general press inquiries, contact Shannon Chambers at 703-298-1347 or schambers@nata.aero

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has been the voice of aviation business for more than 80 years. Representing nearly 3,700 aviation businesses, NATA’s member companies provide a broad range of services to general aviation, the airlines and the military and NATA serves as the public policy group representing the interests of aviation businesses before Congress and the federal agencies.