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[quote user="henry6"] Several airlines have been bailed out one way or another in the past. [/quote] Numerous airlines have gone belly up over the last fifty years and were merged into other carriers or liquidated.  Northeastern, Pan American, Eastern Airlines, Braniff Airlines, People's Express, Air Florida, as well as several others, did not get a bailout.  They declared bankruptcy and were liquidated.  It was the right thing to do. Had the U.S. approached passenger rail with the same cold knife that has been applied to the bankrupt airlines, most of it would have died in 1971.  The logic that says it is OK for airlines, bus companies, and trucking companies to go belly up and die, but not little used passenger trains is hard to understand.  Some corridor rail might have survived, if it was only required to cover its operating costs, and it received subsidies commensurate with those pay to the airlines and motorists. To promote commercial passenger aviation in its early days, the Roosevelt Administration granted lucrative air mail contracts to the fledgling airlines.  The value of the contracts was more than the cost of flying the air mail, which was clearly a direct subsidy.  To the best of my knowledge they had expired by the end of the 1950s. As a result of 9/11, the government gave the airlines millions in direct loans to compensate for the problems generated by the terrorist attacks.  The loans have been repaid with interest. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has assumed responsibility for the pension obligations of the legacy carriers that have declared bankruptcy, e.g. Delta, Northwest, etc.  NARP points to this as an airline bailout.  Actually, the PBGC is an insurance policy.  The legacy carriers paid premiums for the PBGC coverage.  When they went bankrupt, they simply cashed in the policy, so to speak, which is exactly what happens in the case of a life insurance policy where the policy holder dies. Perhaps you can give us some concrete examples of the airlines that have been bailed out.
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