RE: US airline deregulation

I tend to think of it as natural selection.

Those airlines with weak strategies will go under. There is no moral case for government dictating which airlines will fly where, at least domestically. It’s the kind of thing you would expect in China!

There have been casualties in Europe too. You could probably construct an argument to support the notion that the likes of Sabena and Swissair, badly run companies both, were ultimately broken by deregulation. We have “5th freedom” rights in Europe, where any EU carrier can operate any route. Eg. Lufthansa could operate from Belfast to Mancester or from Porto to Amsterdam. But the reality is quite different, due to congested airports and “grandfather rights” which prevent an open market in slots.