In case anyone has forgotten, Boeing crashes killed over 300 passengers in 2019 The two fatal crashes were the result of an automated system called MCAS, which was responsible for controlling the pitch of the plane. Following the crashes, Boeing stock nosedived. With the arrival of coronavirus, the entire airline industry is struggling—but Boeing is on the brink of collapse, and is seeking billions for a Boeing Bailout.
Boeing, with hat in hand, has already asked the government to step in and provide $60 billion to the entire airline industry. But Christopher Harrow, CEO of International Aviation HQ, thinks that Boeing alone will require $75 billion to survive. As of today, Congress is currently locked in debate over what the coronavirus bailout plan will entail.
In my opinion, any response to the present pandemic must support the average American citizen. Screw the enormous corporations and Boeing in particular. As I previously mentioned, Boeing killed over 300 passengers in 2019. I see no reason why our government should bailout a company that could quite literally cover a tarmac with the blood of its passengers.
Boeing going out of business, though, would hurt the livelihoods of thousands of Americans who work as Boeing employees. Because of this, they should get a different kind of Boeing bailout. Many of these Boeing workers probably had no direct connection to the crashes, and it is for this reason that our government’s response should center around average Americans like these employees and not the mega-corporations insistently whining for a bailout. If Boeing goes out of business or lays off employees, our federal government can pay them through unemployment insurance. Why distribute the money to an already struggling corporation, where the money will barely trickle down to the people who really need it, when our government could just support them as they look for a new job working for a corporation or small business that doesn’t already have blood on their hands?
The government should support the Boeing employees by providing up to $150,000 for a family of four and $75,000 per year for a family of two.