The U.S. taxpayer will be a major player in the struggling airline industry, as many carriers are set to receive government aid with conditions as they grapple with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The aid will help provide a cushion for the industry in the form of payroll support and low-interest loans, as airlines try to wait out the crisis, which is expected to ease up later this year. But that aid also comes with an obligation to issue warrants to the government to buy common stock. In some cases, the amounts of stock could be sizable, enough to put the government among the largest shareholders of a company.
