Originally Posted by
full of luv
In a completely free market, your right....but the US has the most prized aviation market in the world, and this is essentially international cabotage by using a treaty with the EU that the US negotiated with the EU by a non-EU entity.
Actually I'm quite amazed that the EU is even allowing Norwegian to set up a shell company that will inevitably do as much (if not more) damage to their EU nation airlines than any US carrier, but alas, the EU has seemed to concede their airline industry and is slowly winding it down, domestically first, and ultimately internationally.
Soon the US and Europe will have an airline industry that closely resembles the maritime industry.
Funny thing is that their is the Jones act (anti maritime cabotage)in maritime, which is essentially mandates only domestic carriers carry between domestic ports, but shipping companies still realize it's much cheaper to use foreign registry, foreign labor ships (often Americans under contract) and just make international stops to get around the law.
It'll be interesting some day when it will be cheaper to fly from Orlando to LA via Tijuana or MEX than going nonstop.
I don't dispute the premise of what you're saying, but I do dispute your inference that you should protect the 'worlds most highly prized aviation market'. There is no cabotage, and trans-Atlantic customers are an equal mix of Americans and non-Americans, so both sides of the pond should share equal rights.
I do agree that this pushes the industry closer to the toilet. In the EU, domestic flying (let's call it that, as its within the EU) has become incredibly difficult with RYR and EZY etc. The legacies are making all their profits on the wide body international flying. BA's short haul is pretty much a feeder for that. So, I see international flying flourishing, but as you say, domestic flying is going to get rough. Incidentally, this is the opposite to the US market.
I guess you can only play to your strengths.