Well, I admit airline industry accountancy is not my province. Of course, even without subsidies, it's one of the most heavily regulated industries there is, so the Feds can bully airlines into doing almost anything.
But perhaps not into committing suicide.
Let's put your question the other way around: is there currently an airline in th…
Well, I admit airline industry accountancy is not my province. Of course, even without subsidies, it's one of the most heavily regulated industries there is, so the Feds can bully airlines into doing almost anything.
But perhaps not into committing suicide.
Let's put your question the other way around: is there currently an airline in the US that can survive a 50% -- or even 20% -- drop in demand?
Can the government provide enough subsidies to make up for that? Even if it can, what would it be subsidizing? Passenger volume still drops. We'd be paying for either idle capacity, or a Potemkin airline industry that shuffles half-empty planes around the country just to maintain its subsidies.
Granted, just because it's stupid and makes no sense doesn't mean the current regime wouldn't try it. But I'm mildly optimistic that even the airline industry would grow a spine when faced with that sort of hit.
More generally: the bigger and more destructive the government's intervention, the more enemies it makes, and that's a good thing.
Well, I admit airline industry accountancy is not my province. Of course, even without subsidies, it's one of the most heavily regulated industries there is, so the Feds can bully airlines into doing almost anything.
But perhaps not into committing suicide.
Let's put your question the other way around: is there currently an airline in the US that can survive a 50% -- or even 20% -- drop in demand?
Can the government provide enough subsidies to make up for that? Even if it can, what would it be subsidizing? Passenger volume still drops. We'd be paying for either idle capacity, or a Potemkin airline industry that shuffles half-empty planes around the country just to maintain its subsidies.
Granted, just because it's stupid and makes no sense doesn't mean the current regime wouldn't try it. But I'm mildly optimistic that even the airline industry would grow a spine when faced with that sort of hit.
More generally: the bigger and more destructive the government's intervention, the more enemies it makes, and that's a good thing.