Schwarzenegger sells Branson on Calif. airline base

No corporate welfare.

We already have an overcapacity problem and he wants $18 million from an already cash strapped state to put more capacity in the US system?

That's almost as silly as the city of Scottsdale giving a $20,000,000 grant to Wal Mart to build one in a vacant lot... Three miles from an existing Wal Mart.

Besides, I thought Ahhnold was a Republican?
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If he can't do it without government assistance, too friggen bad.
 
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the city of Scottsdale giving a $20,000,000 grant to Wal Mart

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That's like pocket change to Wal-Mart!
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No doubt.

I'm like the last person in this country that thinks corporate welfare is disgusting.

If I was a pilot living in California, I'd be pretty pissed that my Governator is using my tax dollars to bring in an airline in an already oversaturated market, meant to undercut my taxable income? Forget that man!

Essential Air Service is one thing, but to use government money in order to pump more seats into oversaturated leisure and business markets flies in the face of fiscal conservatism.

Ahhnold ought to know better.
 
Actually, Kristie told me that my city wants to give Wal Mart $37,000,000 ($17 million more than I thought).
 
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This is NOT cabotage, folks. Virgin USA will be a US-based carrier with an FAA operating certificate, employing American employees. A new airline operating more airplanes in this country, employing more pilots, is a good thing.

FL270

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I would disagree. We oght to do something to help the situation that were in and I don't think bringing a whole new airline to the play is going to help.
 
I dont live anywhere near Cali so I can't really say I care what Ahhhnold does, but at least maybe there will be a cheaper way to get to SFO!
 
Ladies and gentleman, if the money was being spent to develop a market that no one else wanted like Los Angeles to Billings, or Muleshoe, OK to Lubbock, TX, that's one thing.

But $18,000,000 to Sir Branson to cherry pick an industry that is suffering from overcapacity problems is downright ill.

We're all thinking "Cool! More jobs!" but look down the road a bit further. This is the first volley in a war on our cabotage laws and it very well may be in ten years, you'll be flying on American Airlines, operated Air Nigeria with former-Czech Republic pilots on a flight from Atlanta to JFK.

Corporate America wants mega cheap labor and it's the first swipe at the firewall.

Stop supporting politicians that want to do with the airlie industry what the tech industry did to American computer programming jobs and what Wal Mart did to our domestic textile manufacturing.

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE.
 
Plus Branson whined like a smitten schoolgirl when BA and AA wanted to codeshare, but he wants a government handout?

(I uhh, forgot to add that)
 
Doug, I wouldnt really want to fly on Air Nambia from JFK-ATL, but I think that If they could provide a safe and cheap service, most passengers wouldn't care. It should be a 2 way street. You seem to only be focusing on foreign airlines taking away business from our airlines, but it could also work the other way. Maybe, for example, Delta could expand a base in London, and fly all over Europe.
 
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If he can't pull it off without an $18,000,000 corporate welfare handout from Ahhnold, he should keep his butt in the UK.

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Ehh...I wouldn't worry, the state will get all that back and then some in short order. Rather than as corporate welfare,look at it another way: with most dope pushers, the first one's free.
 
Nothing against foreign pilots, don't get me wrong.

Cabotage is a huge pandora's box that I'm probably going to have to create a new topic and dig up some information on to present why I think it's an abhoration.

But I can virtually guarantee you without cabotage laws, there will most likely never be another domestic-based airline in the United States because of our labor laws.

If I had the ability to base my airline in St. Croix, avoid US tax laws and base my pilots in New Delhi, and pay a good local, albeit rock bottom wage for the local economy where they're based... Then send those pilots on TDY to the US to do domestic routes in the US, as a CEO that would be complete nirvana.

It would then make absolutely no economic sense to hire a pilot in the U.S, at US-style liveable wages requisite with their level of education and dedication to the profession.

At that point, it would be the death knell for both my job and for what all of you other people are trying to pursue.

Unless, of course, the above interests you!
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I would agree Doug. Not knowing my airline history what other foreign carriers have tried to enter the US market?
 
Shall I mention the Atlas operation out of the UK, in a similar sort of way, and recently sent one of our 747 cargo carriers bankrupt! I think the US and the UK share a special relationship, remember the UK gov not collecting the debters when all the big US I banks underwrote the privatization of BP, and market share fell 25%, it would have forced all the big banks into liquidation.
 
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I'm like the last person in this country that thinks corporate welfare is disgusting.

If I was a pilot living in California, I'd be pretty pissed that my Governator is using my tax dollars to bring in an airline in an already oversaturated market, meant to undercut my taxable income? Forget that man!

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Nah, I do as well. It'd be one thing if corporations would do things with that money like keep jobs here in the US instead of shipping them overseas, but they do that and keep the money.

And I think that it's absurd for the Governator, when he's going to float a $15 billion bond issue -- that's the biggest bond issue that a state has ever issued, folks -- to use government money to bring in a company into a market that flat out doesn't need one.

Ridiculous.
 
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