This is a sensational and false argument. The funds the airlines received from the federal government were designed to help them when they were hemorrhaging cash and about to lay people off. Keeping people on the payroll meant those people continued to pay taxes and have the money they needed to procure goods and services and support the economy. That was the point of the support, not to limit DL or its competitors to some arbitrary regulated fare ceiling when they find themselves finally coming out of the crisis.