[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

Ok, thread drift I know, but I will offer an answer.

1. AA claimed subsidy from the US Government to pay for insurance costs following the 911 attacks. The costs of airlines all over the world for insurance were substantially increased, but US airlines claimed subsidy from the US government, subsidies which were not available to other competitor airlines.

This was a one-time payout and was made to almost every major US airline in operation at the time. Most of the financial assistance the airlines received post 9/11 were in the form of government loans which were re-paid. I don't want to get off on a tangent and start discussing conspiracy theories, etc., but I believe had the US government not made these one-time payments the airlines could have sued as it was discovered later that the intelligence and warnings were there but the US government simp[ly didn't "connect the dots" to be able to see the big picture.

2. The US Government requires all government employees to travel on US based airlines. This protectionist measure ensures that US airlines are protected from competition on many routes. Comparable measures are not in place in other countries. For example, on the key US/UK transatlantic routes, some of the most travelled routes in the world. The UK government requires their employees to get "best value" and has no prohibition on the use of US airlines. US government employees on the other hand are prohibited from travelling on non US carriers. On some routes in the world, this can amount to almost 15% of the total seats sold on the route, a significant government cross subsidy.

Why wouldn't the US government require it's employees to travel on US based airlines? Their salaries are paid by the citizens of the United States. Why would any citizen want their tax money to benefit a foreign corporation or government when travel on a US airline benefits the US economy. As for the "best value" rules that other governments use, the US government has pre-negotiated fares with the various US based airlines for travel between specific city pairs. Those fares are negotiated annually.

3. In the US, there is considerable subsidy for the provision of infrastructure costs such as Air traffic control, airport infrastructure, airport security, etc. These are costs which are borne by the airlines themselves in many other jurisdictions.

Wrong. These are all paid for by fees collected by the airline on each ticket. The US segment fee goes to maintain and improve ATC. The "9/11" fee goes to fund the TSA and the passenger facility charges go directly to the airports.

This is just a few.. I could give you loads.

The only government subsidies paid directly to an airline is under the Essential Air Service program. This is a subsidy that keeps scheduled service at smaller airports that would normally not have service since it would not be profitable for an airline to do so. You specifically said AA receives subsidies. Well, my dear Jim, I consulted the list of EAS airports in the United States and which airlines receive subsidies to provide scheduled service at each one. Guess how many EAS airports AA or American Eagle provides service to and gets government money to do so? ZERO.