DTW320 said:Subsidizing? HA! Thats a good one! Try bleeding airlines to death! An airline ticket is TAXED by the government at a rate higher than that of a bottle of booze or a carton of cigarettes. A sin tax on an airline ticket! It's a cash cow for the government at the expense of airline's and, ultimately, their employees. Remember, the ATSB was loan gaurantees ...not cash payments to airlines. A fact that most morons in the press forget too....
Please remember that the gov. does not build and finance the "booze" store. They do however build and remodel the airports. Airlines should pay for that. Taxes above this I agree are not helpful to the airlines. I do think it is unfair to have the airlines pay for the highest bidder contractor that the local gov. awarded the new runway construction in order to line thier next campaign fund. Get rid of the gov. and we have lowered the cost of airport construction (and passenger taxes) by 50%.