This has already been touched on, but basically the airlines have been subsidized by massive amounts of taxpayer dollars.
Wikipedia's article entitled 'Airline' puts it best:
"Historically, air travel has survived largely through state support, whether in the form of equity or subsidies. The airline industry as a whole has made a cumulative loss during its 100-year history, once the costs include subsidies for aircraft development and airport construction...A historically high level of government intervention in the airline industry can be seen as part of a wider political consensus on strategic forms of transport, such as highways and railways, both of which receive public funding in most parts of the world."
How soon we forget 2001, when President Bush pledged $15 billion in taxpayer funds directly to the airlines.
So here's my line: "I helped pay for a substantial portion of the airline industry, so I for damn sure should get some say in how things stack up."