Congressional aides told Reuters that the package would help fund payroll costs on would be a four month extension of a government assistance program.

A roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief bill, expected imminently would allocate the funds to airlines and allow them to bring back more than 32,000 workers who were furloughed in October.

Under the deal, aides said, airlines would have to resume flying some routes.

They stopped operating after the last package expired in October, American Airlines furloughed 19,000 employees, while United Airlines furloughed more than 13,000.

American Airlines suspended flights to some smaller U.

S airports earlier this month.

The number of passengers screamed at US airports dipped to just over 500,000, the lowest number since July, as covert 19 cases spiked.

The new assistance program is expected to mirror the earlier $25 billion program approved by Congress in March.

It required larger airlines to repay 30% of the payroll grants over time.

ANDI offer the government warrants.