2 Dallas-Fort Worth aviation companies face questions from Congress on COVID relief
This story has been updated to include a statement received by Sky Chefs.
Two Dallas-Fort Worth aviation firms, Sky Chefs and Menzies Aviation Inc., are among seven facing questions from Congress for accepting federal coronavirus relief checks even as some of those firms laid off employees, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis announced Friday.
In an announcement accompanying the 25-page report, subcommittee chairman Rep. James Clyburn, D-South Carolina, found that those seven firms received more than $1 billion in payroll support program aid.
However the terms of the relief package by the Treasury Department “permitted aviation contractors to lay off thousands of workers and receive full payroll support calculated based on the companies’ pre-pandemic workforce.”
Among the seven, Irving-based Sky Chefs had one of the lowest numbers of layoffs, with 349 employees known to have been furloughed since it applied for the federal aid, according to the subcommittee’s investigation. It has received more than $214 million in coronavirus relief, the subcommittee reported.
“Since the purpose of the Program is to preserve jobs, I ask that you honor Congress’s intent and commit to forgo any layoffs or furloughs until all of the PSP funds awarded to you have been exhausted,” Clyburn wrote in a letters obtained by McClatchy to Sky Chefs president John Rutjes.
In a statement, Sky Chefs confirmed they had received the subcommittee’s letter and said “we are in the process of responding to this letter. We are grateful for the CARES Act funding that has been used solely for the intended purpose under the Act, which is to provide payroll support for our employees.”
Representatives from Menzies were not immediately available for comment.
Dallas-based Menzies Aviation received $111 million in payroll relief. The committee did not report any layoff data for Menzies.
The other firms the subcommittee is contacting include Virginia-based Gate Gourmet, which has received more than $171 million in relief and laid of 7,160 employees; Virginia-based Swissport USA, which has received $170 million in relief and laid off 3,873 employees; Chicago-based Flying Food Fare, which has received $85 million and laid off 3,873 employees; Atlanta-based DAL Global, which received $163 million; and New York-based Worldwide Flight Services, which received $107 million in payroll relief. The subcommittee did not report layoff data for DAL Global.
The coronavirus pandemic has gutted commercial aviation, with domestic air travel down 63% from a year ago according to Airlines for America, an aviation advocacy group.
Sky Chefs was founded in 1942 by Fort Worth-based American Airlines and its U.S. headquarters is based in Irving.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 3:45 PM.
