(Bloomberg) — Chief executive officers and executives from every major American airline spoke this week at the Skift Global Forum, a virtual conference focused on the travel industry and—this year—its stunted rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic.

With only days remaining before the Oct. 1 deadline to extend Washington’s payroll support program, which has granted the sector $25 billion in bailouts since March, the tone was generally more urgent than optimistic.

“I’ve been through 9/11, through the financial crisis, through restructuring, through our merger with US Airways and the Max grounding,” said Maya Leibman, executive vice president and chief information officer of American Airlines, “and I can say with certainty that this one takes the cake, in terms of crises.”

© Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg
Travelers At Reagan Airport As Airlines Headed For Record Weekly Gain

United Air Holdings CEO Scott Kirby warned that furloughs stemming from the expiration of payroll support could