U.S. airlines would accept new bailout without additional strings: trade group

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A trade group representing major U.S. airlines said Thursday it is not actively seeking new government assistance but would accept new bailout funds as long as new strings were attached.

A spokeswoman for Airlines for America, a trade group representing Delta Airlines , United Airlines and American Airlines , Southwest Airlines and other major airlines said “if Congress opts to enact the labor-requested proposal, we would support our workforce’s decision to pursue a simple and clean extension of the grants as long as no additional or extraneous conditions are required.”

Major airline unions last month asked for another $32 billion in payroll assistance for airlines and contractors to keep workers employed through at least March 31.

(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul)