Actually there are very few subsidies for airlines - the only significant one being the "Essential Air Service" grants that subsidize air service in very small towns.
Seriously? Airlines have been one of the most publicly-supported industries ever, going back to the days when the government started paying them to haul the mail. Airports are built with publicly bonded money and maintained by tax-exempt government entities. Municipalities give big tax breaks to airlines to locate a hub in their city. Air traffic is managed by government employees who are forbidden by law to strike for higher wages. Less than half of the FAA's budget is paid by airline fees, the rest is from taxpayers. Airlines have anti-trust exemptions that allow them to collaborate on setting fares. Foreign-owned airlines are forbidden from competing on US routes. The cost of aircraft is lowered by research grants and military contracts. Plus the billions in bailout money paid to airlines after 9/11.
I'm not saying using public money to maintain a national air transportation infrastructure is an invalid proposition. But everything I've read about the economics of commercial air travel indicates that without government money underwriting them the airline as we think of it today would probably not exist.
--Justin
