Bangladesh, March 17 -- With each day that the coronavirus outbreak spreads and claims more lives, the damage to global airlines rises too. U.S. carriers on Monday put a price tag on their pain: They asked the federal government for more than $50 billion in rescue aid.

It is a staggering request for an industry that has chalked up tens of billions in profits over the past decade. It would far exceed the bailout that airlines got after the terror attacks of September 2001.

Airlines CEOs have been making the rounds in Washington and making phone calls to lobby for assistance in the last few days. Airlines for America, the trade group representing all the leading U.S. passenger and cargo airlines, finally provided some details about what t...