Air Canada Bailout

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation as a compelling piece up online, Air Canada Bailout Buys Time--But Canada Inc Sells Out to Forces of Protectionism (Aug. 7, 2009) (available here).  From the summary:

The Canadian government is simultaneously bailing out its flag carrier and blocking entry by foreign airlines – on the basis that they are “instruments of government policy”.  Air Canada is far from safe, even with the bailout. But there is a special irony here. The government justifies its action as a matter of “national interest”. As the legacy airline industry looks for a future, this begs the question of whether that future should focus more on the economic importance of airlines, rather than their financial well-being.