NEW YORK, April 14 ― Some large US passenger airlines are close to accepting the terms of a US$25 billion (RM108.2 billion) offer for government coronavirus payroll aid, with announcements possible as early as today, people briefed on the matter said.

Brent McIntosh, the Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, told Reuters yesterday the agency was not planning to change the terms laid out on Friday, which require 30 per cent of the funds allotted to each airline to be repaid.

The US government would also receive warrants equal to 10 per cent of the loan amount.

"We’ve attempted to come up with an equitable methodology that works for all passenger air carriers, and we don’t want to engage in individual negotiations that would require us to make changes across the carriers,” he said.

Based on wages and benefits in the second and third quarters of 2019, American Airles Group Inc and United Airlines Holdings Inc were each eligible for about US$6 billion in grants, Delta Air Lines Inc about US$5.6 billion and Southwest Airlines Co about US$4 billion.

However, one airline official said major carriers may receive only about 75 per cent of the payroll assistance sought because the total amount of funds sought exceeded US$25 billion.

Earlier, officials told Reuters all of the large US airlines were increasingly resigned to the terms.

Once they accept, the money could arrive soon.

"We intend to get as much money out as quickly as possible, consistent with our obligation to taxpayers to know that it’s going for the right purposes,” McIntosh said.

US passenger airlines, suffering an unprecedented downturn in demand due to the coronavirus, are also eligible for a separate US$25 billion loan package under the CARES Act.

They had lobbied for the grant portion to be free cash for employee payrolls to prevent layoffs through September 30, helping to ensure a trained staff is on hand for flights to resume and support an economic rebound once consumer sentiment recovers.

American, United, Delta and Southwest have said they were evaluating the aid terms but had no additional comment.

On Sunday, just 90,510 travellers went through US security checkpoints ― another new low ― down from nearly 2.5 million a year earlier. ― Reuters