It's not just the auto plants. It's the huge number of suppliers dependent upon them, that would be able to re-tool their component-parts fabrication processes to supplement the military in time of war.

In regards to the Big 3 automakers being on the brink of failure, there have been some interesting articles on them taking a lesson from the legacy airlines on using bankruptcy as a tool to successfully restructure. All sides of the equation need to take a good hard look on how they are doing things and why...without pointing fingers.

My Wishlist:

Expanded runway at DCA.

DCA-GRU
DCA-SIN
DCA-FRA
DCA-SFO 777
DCA-CLE 777

CO Wishlist:

Downsize to only international flights and feeder flights from lucrative US markets; eliminate reliance on solely domestic traffic.

I'm also troubled that we recently became a net food importer. However, the net imports are not really w/r/t staples and necessities. IIRC, the slim net import figures were driven by an increased demand for specialty foods/wines/beers.

If we're ever dependent on trading partners for the very basics of human existence, we're hosed. Farm subsidies are not evil per se.

I don't see it working out. I think that they'll get a lot of business eastbound and very little westbound. That being said, the recent move to open customs screening in SNN on top of immigration which was already there means that the passengers will walk off the plane and be inside the USA already. That does have some value. If the gas-n-go is <=1 hour then it will be a good option. I also wonder what happens if someone gets held at the immigration/customs point. Do they hold the plane? Do they contract with EI/CO for onward transportation to NYC (or AA to ORD)?

I can agree with that but even components are highly specialized for military use.

My wife's father works for a company that supplies UPSs to military contract companies. That's all they do. I mean, it's just a UPS, you'd think anyone would be able to do it, but apparently not.

might as well add DCA-IAD

Agreed about this concern, though now some people might look to framing more than to wall street.

Farm subsidies....I dont think I can go into that can of worms...but I will agree with you no evil per se....

:D

Imagine a T7 running the river approach from the west! Man, what a ride!

Heck, why you are at it, why not add DCA to BKL or CGF? :)

Yep, this is one of those topics that is rarely discussed and to me it's a bigger issue than the Big 3 tanking.

Maybe it's a cue for people to get back to basics of subsistence farming and local markets. Of course, most of that will never happen on a large scale...

Time to start looking at property in New Mexico to buy ;)

The way they are set up now is far from ideal. I merely intended to make the point that protectionist measures favoring domestic production of necessaries/staples aren't necessarily a bad thing.

Think about the short finals that some of the CRJs pull. I'd love to see a 777 try that!

If we ever (God forbid) find ourselves in a WWIII situation that lasts more that 15 minutes, I think the government would do all it could to speed up the permitting process.

When the airlines have done such restructuring it has been largely at the expense of the union employees as those contracts were trashed. Some leases were also restructured, but the auto industry capital costs are very different in that they buy raw materials more than lease aircraft. It seems to me that the union contracts/benefits and the costs to maintain those are the reason (at a very simplistic level) that the auto industry finds itself in the position it is in. If they just slash the union contracts and start paying lots less and killing the long-term benefits (like free health insurance for life) what is the long term economic impact? I can't imagine that it is particularly good that way, either.

So it was ok to give $350 billion (plus another $350 billion in the near future) to a bunch of i-bankers and other finance professionals who recklessly gambled everything away away over the past two years, with no strings attached (allowing them to acquire other banks instead of providing more market liquidity through increased lending), but it's not ok to give $25 billion to another industry that, just like finance, makes up a large amount of US GDP because people don't like their products and they take corporate jets to Washington? I don't really see why the auto industry should be treated any differently, at this point. If the rest of the economy were not in crisis, I would agree with not giving the auto industry a bailout. When the choice is bailout vs. depression, however (which I believe it is), there is no choice at all. Do what it takes to stop a depression now, and worry about the management and building cars that people like later. That's not even taking into account the fact that no one will buy cars from a bankrupt manufacturer.