Originally Posted by trekkie
This i agree. All airlines that are majority owned by governments would have some sort of "help." For SQ, the increased insurance costs after the tragic crash in Taipei was picked by up the singapore government. Im sure Emirates would have some sort of financial assistance as well.
For airlines such as Qantas or US based airlines that do not have any government state, do not have this financial support to depend on.
But if you talk to these airline officials, im sure they will tell you to the tone of " its strictly business." a bit similar to the concept of the american TV show, "the Apprentice" by Donald Trump.
QF doesnt have "help"??? Have you checked out SYD-LAX prices recently? And the government has prevented SQ from flying that route....QF derives 15% of its profit on that single route....thats protection....
US based airlines....check out the assistance they got after 9/11
Airlines are the most protected business in the world IMHO...partly because of the dependance of air travel now, and more importantly because for a lot of countries they represent a certain level of national pride....and also lets not forget the $$$$