By Kevin Brown and Steve Sweeney At the end of 2020, the airline industry emerged battered but alive after the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry’s continued viability was by no means guaranteed. Only a few months before, the nation’s airports were on life support. The miraculous survival of an industry worth billions of dollars was due in no small part to airport workers. Serving on the frontlines of the worst public health emergency in our lifetime, these essential workers ensured that the nation’s airports remained functioning and safe. At the time, subcontracted airport work…