The parent claimed that airlines were very competitive absolutely. I linked to three separate articles saying that that was not the case; European skies are far more competitive (although they still have a very long way to go, especially regarding how capacity at airports is allocated).
> They want the Open Skies agreements between the United States and Persian Gulf governments thrown out and to deny Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways access to American cities because they're subsidized by their governments. But so are other U.S. airline partners, many of whom happened to also be government-owned. Such subsidies are unfortunate, but they're hardly a reason to rip up the very system that's pressuring governments around the world to reduce protectionist behaviors.
Like that’s a problem?
Citation needed: the American airline industry is a textbook example of regulatory capture and protectionism [1-3].
The first reference has a nice chart which suggests that price gouging might be occurring; where else is all the extra profit coming from?.
[1]: https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21721201-americans-ar...
[2]: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-welch-united-comp...
[3]: https://reason.com/archives/2017/07/13/flying-the-fairer-ski...