American Airlines: Comparing US aid with Middle Eastern subsidies 'apples and oranges comparison'

American Airlines VP regulatory/head of regulatory & international government affairs Molly Wilkinson, speaking at CAPA Live March 2021, commented (11-Mar-2021) on the question about complaints made by US carriers against subsidies given to Middle Eastern carriers, and the current governmental assistance given to US carriers, stating: "You can't even compare the two… it is an apples and oranges comparison". She argued: "First of all, this a black swan event, once in 100 years and it affected the entire industry". Ms Wilkinson proceeded: "In the US… well over 100 airlines applied to receive the aid… [and] there are strings attached to it, you have to provide essential air services, you have to meet other criteria, you have to give transparency to the US government and under certain circumstances you have to pay back that grant that you got". She concluded stating: "In addition, it was a straight out pass through, this was money that was to go to pay for salaries for your frontline employees… This was literally to keep your frontline employees there and to continue to have healthcare benefits".