WASHINGTON, D.C. — When the airplane manufacturer Boeing announced their plans to lay off over 13,000 employees last month because of coronavirus, it prompted many to wonder how a large corporation that receives the praise of President Trump and other key stakeholders could shed so many employees.

What You Need To Know


  • Boeing to lay off 13,000 employees

  • Company circumvented standards for CARES Act intended to protect workers

  • Some airlines reducing hours to reduce income

  • Lawmakers call for increased safeguards

"Boeing has found a way to avoid taking the specific money Congress attached to some standards. They went through a separate federal reserve program to circumvent the standards that were intended to ensure workers stay on the payroll," said David Madland, an economist with the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

Madland says Boeing never ended up taking money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. They went through another channel, but he argues it’s critical members of Congress and the public don’t lose sight of the $500 billion CARES Act Treasury fund aimed at big businesses.

"Congress said you can’t reduce wages, but unfortunately, some airlines found ways to reduce the number of hours so your total income goes down. The most important thing Congress should be doing is subsidizing payroll so that the money is going directly to the workers, rather than give money to the corporations, apply some standards and hope they don’t find a way to just benefit shareholders and executives," said Madland.

Some lawmakers have indicated they are open to increased safeguards.

"We need them to survive. They need to be accountable but they need to be able to survive and we need to figure out how to make that happen," said Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Kentucky).

Even as Madland calls for more oversight, he concedes the economy would have taken a worse hit if not for the CARES Act.

"There’s no doubt the economy would be in worse shape if we weren’t doing some sorts of bailouts," he said.

At the end of April, Boeing released a statement saying in part that they do not plan to seek additional funding through the government.

Boeing employs twenty people in Kentucky. The positions are not part of the announced layoffs, according to the company.