“For four years, the Obama administration failed to enforce these Open Skies agreements. While kowtowing to the wishes of other countries and putting their priorities ahead of free trade principles, the UAE and Qatar poured gargantuan subsidies into their respective airlines. These Gulf carriers, comprised of Qatar, Etihad and Emirates, are the beggars of an unprecedented $50 billion in government subsidies and benefits, a sum so vast that it mocks the very idea of Adam Smith’s beggar who “chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow citizens.” The subsidy allows the state-owned carriers to fly where and when they want, without regard to free-market signals, incentives or discipline.”

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