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The US gov't has only GUARANTEED loans for airlines, which, BTW, were the result of 9/11. And, while the media is fond of quoting $15 Billion in gov't loans, the actual amount ended up being approx. $1.9 Billion, and again, they were guarantees, not actual loans
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Not strictly true. When the Air Transport Stabilization Board was set up right after 9/11, it was divided into two sgements. The first was a $500m pot of money which was paid out in cash to the airlines to compensate them for 9/11 related losses, primarily the 3-day shutdown and enhanced federally mandated security measures.
The guarantee component was the second segment, totalling $5bn. In fact, less than half this amount was committed, and no more will now be granted, because of opposition now to such generosity which is often perceived to benefit the weaker airlines, notably those in Chapter 11.
Actually, there was a third component, which was an insurance underwriting clause, since airlines were unable to obtain third party liability in the wake of 9/11 on the open commercial market. However, this problem affected European airlines too, and the EU also put together some sort of insurance back-stop.