Roadside Wire

Obama admin hands airlines comeuppance

Published on Wednesday, 10 March 2010 19:18

I removed a chunk out of the middle of this article from the Wall Street Journal to get to the meat of the matter. Frankly, I find it refreshing to see a little turnabout here. The airline industry has received billions and billions of “hidden” subsidy from the Feds in the last 80 years, most thank to indirect investment by way of defense contracts. And who could forget the $9 billion “loan” the airlines received after ⁹⁄₁₁? (Thanks to Dave Lee for the tip)

LaHood to Airlines: Get Onboard the High-​Speed Train

The airline industry was left fuming last year when some $8 billion on federal stimulus money was appropriated for high-​speed rail while air-​traffic control modernization got no new funds.

[snip]

Mr. LaHood gave a politician’s answer about how important the NextGen air-​traffic control modernization effort is to the Administration. Then he paused and went off-​script.

“Let me give you a little bit of political advice: Don’t be against high-​speed rail,’’ Sec. LaHood said. “It’s coming to America. This is the president’s vision, this is the vice president’s vision, this is America’s vision…. We’re going to get into the high-​speed rail business.’’

In two or three decades, Mr. LaHood said, U.S. cities will be connected by high-​speed rail – whether airlines like it or not.

“People want alternatives,’’ he said pointedly. “People are still going to fly, but we need alternatives. So get with the program.’’

Full article here