WHILErevenues have disappeared in the Covid-19 crisis, airlines have been on the hunt for emergency liquidity, and some of the largest have found innovative assets to act as security for the vast loans they need. In June, American announced that it would pledge its AAdvantage frequent flyer loyalty programme as collateral for a $4.75bn loan from the US government as part of the CARES Act measures, citing third-party appraisals of the FFP of between $19.5bn and $31.5bn. In the same month, United raised $6.8bn in an "innovative" financing structure secured on its own Mileage- Plus loyalty programme. It cited a report from On Point Loyalty (see table right) suggesting that MileagePlus was the third most valuable FFP out of the 150 surveyed at over $20bn - just short of United's total market capitalisaon at the end of 2019(and more than twice the current market cap half a year later).
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