OK, I realize I must be really poor in the communication department, becasue the points I intend to get across are getting lost. This will probably be a long post (I don't know as I don't outline the post ahead of time) so bear with me.
Just for emphasis: I am against allowing foreign carriers flying domestically in the US. I see absolutely no benefit to consumers, american workers, system safety, the environment, or any other angle I from which I can approach this issue.
This entire thread has turned into an academic arguement inside a vacuum.
First, back to the "Get my 1000 and get out mentality". There was a time, not all that many years ago, that all regionals flew were turboprops. The highest levels of these "commuter" companies flew up to 34 seats (there were the oddball ATR/Dash 7s that seated more). The upper end of the vast majority of these airlines paid as much as $50,000/yr cash-money. New captains on 19 seat aircraft could make as much as $30,000 year. This was after a 3-4+ year upgrade, and paying for an "evaluation" course or somesort just to get the job. So even first year at a "major" airline was big money compared to the vast majority of regional pilot pay. Then the "RJ" (tm) [I use (tm) as Regional Jet is a brand name invented by the socialists in Montreal for their extended Bill Lear-designed tube. Somehow like "Kleenex" it became a generic moniker for the 50 seat jets not built by The Boeing Company or Airbus. Kleenex, BTW, is a brand name owned by Kimberly-Clark. Kimberly-Clark's flight department started Midwest Express, which became Midwest....). So obviously the idea to get your time and get out was the main goal, so airline captains could get off foodstamps. That is where that culture came from. As we all know, the industry transformed, and NO CBAs have caught up.
Moving along the story arc, there are lots of holes in the reasoning against foreign carriage in the US that I've seen on here.
First, in my opinion, the arguements should encompass the following:
1) National Security (I'm not one to wave this flag on any occasion). The airlines and airways inside the US are a vital part of the infrastructure. Some of you may know about the CRAF program. Some may not. CRAF is the Civil Reserve Airforce, which uses civilian airliners to supplement military lift. As an example, Polar flew on 9/11 after the attacks. The DoD brought a Falcon to JFK to pick up a crew, and flew them to Dover to an awaiting Polar 747. That airplane was loaded with 110 tons of ordinance to deliver to our troops. If we lose the ability to provide this critical airlift during the (hopefully) incredibly rare time that we'd need it, one can clearly see the negative impact in our ability to defend our nation.
2) Protect American Consumers - From my point of view, and by all known metrics, we have the safest air system in the world. Introduction of carriers that are governed by rules and are based in less successful systems is asking for nothing but trouble.
3) Protecting American jobs - Not only front-line employees, but companies that support airline operations such as Bornemann, SABRE, various MRO organizations, and the actual airports themselves rely on our system as it is. Sure, a foreign carrier would use some of the services, but how much can't be said.
To say that the general public is never involved in 121 operations beyond demanding maximum service for bargin basement price is not true. While that garners the most attention, if you look back to the post-9/11 ATSB issues or even the United/USAir proposed merger, you'll find that statement to be false. Members of congress got a lot of airtime defending the loans to the airlines and working to defeat the merger. The main issue brought up: lost jobs, to the point of devistation, in their districts.
I further believe it's a false argument to think that even if the President requested, and Congress approved, and the judiciary didn't over turn a change to the DOT rules, that VodkaBurner LCC would show up in Wilkes-Barre.
Why? First any half-assed operator would have a bunch of issues, the most obvious is money. Moving a fleet of airplanes to the US isn't cheap, especially with cheap metal sitting in the desert. But you ask, why wouldn't they just get MD-80s out of the desert? Well, if they are a 3rd tier, 3rd world carrier, they've probably never seen one.
Either way, flying airplanes out of the desert, or stuff they brought out of the back fields of the Urals they have to get their fleet up to US standards, comply with the applicable parts of Parts 25, 119, 121, convert all their pilots to US licenses (depending on the nation could be a bigger or smaller challenge), go through CSET certification (been there, done that, that's enough). Of course, if they somehow could magically waive the requirements that US Aircarriers operate under, then we're screwed no matter what. However, it is shown that if they operate under the crappy regs where they were falling out of the sky in their home country, then they'll fall out of the sky here.
More on my point about contract pilot rates and why they're significant. This is actually real quick. If they are staffing their current capacity with contract pilots from foreign nations, how are they going to increase capacity to fly within the US if they can't staff their current operations?
In summation of the above, if they are a third tier airline in a third world country that can't staff their own fleet in a far-away land, they will not be able to run a remote operation here.
Now, if you want to get serious about what constitutes a threat to our airlines we can talk. I can point to countries on coasts opposite to ours across the Atlantic and Pacific that would drive our airlines to the ground. Names like Ryanair, Easyjet, JAL, ANA, Lufthansa, AirFrance/KLM, LTU, British Airways, Cathay (That's for you rjmoore) Etihad, and Emirates should keep our airline excecutives awake at night. If you've ever flown on one of them, you'll know why. These airlines have superior service, they have reasonable prices and would be willing to buy the leftovers of any US airlines right now, as the dollar is cheap.
Anyway, that's $5 of my $.02