Originally Posted by
Dobbs18
Some foreign nations could turn right around and "change the rules" on US carriers flying into or over their countries(case in point Russia and our India flight), ALOT faster than the speedy US congress can wipe their own *****. Point is, you have to be careful of the anything you can do I can do better mentality taking over...The US could ABSOLUTELY strong arm every other country in the world not named China for a longer time, but at what cost?
You make some very good points, but I'd wager that the political calculation for US politicians probably leans in favor of being more protectionist, especially if the rationale can be tied directly to safety.
Given your two examples, first, it would be very interesting to know what their required staffing is on those longer segments. Second, I would imagine that the revenue from Siberian overflight permits are more valuable to Russia than the cost of adding an RFO to some of their Aeroflot flights.
It's probably a tactic that's more effective against the ME3 (and certainly more relatable than the whole subsidy argument) although, as you point out, not without risks.