Recently, calls have been heard for a new national aviation policy. As is often the case, airlines morph this into calling for a new national airline policy.
I think this provides an interesting insight into the view of airlines regarding the true purpose of air transportation. I’d always thought it was the movement of people and products to destinations and markets. For thousands of years, that was the definition of transportation, whether by river, by sea, by land or by air. In that case, you’d call for a national aviation policy.
"This summer’s sequence of events . . . underscores why we need a National Airline Policy." ATA's Calio
But it is clear that U.S. carriers view the purpose of air transportation differently. They seem to view the purpose of air transportation as somehow ensuring the financial success of the carriers themselves. Hence the call for a national airline policy.
There are other industries under financial pressure, book stores, travel agencies, banks. But you don’t hear anyone calling for a national book store policy or a national travel agency policy or a national bank policy. Oh, wait a minute. We did have a national bank policy. It was called a bail out.
Hmmmm. Oh, now I understand!
