When British Airways or Air France petition the U.S. government to abolish cabotage laws, should we petition to support that as well? The U.S. aviation market is the biggest on the planet and foreign carriers would love to dump the code share agreements with their U.S. counterparts and fly the NYC to LAX leg themselves. Richard Branson wants in on that gig and damn near did it by hiding behind American investors. Perhaps the Virgin name on the side gave it away. My guess is he will try again using a less obvious name plate for his jets. I want jobs to be created in the industry like anyone else, but not at the expense of the home team.

On the cabotage note, watch out if John Mcain is elected to the Whitehouse. He would love to increase the competition within the U.S. airline industry by relaxing cabotage laws.