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I can't speak to other countries, but in the US, there's actually a strategic reason to prop up airlines. The law allows the government to commandeer their services in time of war, so there's basically a huge air force of transport aircraft in reserve.
Sports stadiums are just a pure grift though. They promise tax revenue at restaurants and hotels driven by spectators, but it takes a lot of sales tax to raise the millions of dollars the government spends to subsidize the stadium. I also think government officials view there being a certain prestige and having a professional sports team, so they cater to the owners in order to get or keep one- it's not their money after all.
Oh, the airline thing is most definitely complex, but if you look at the finances, taxes or indeed ownership structure of any of those airlines I mentioned (Virgin was and still is almost wholly owned by overseas venture capitalists, lol), it’s fucking absurd…
I appreciate the need for at least a flag carrier, and the more airlines the better (if they are functional and safe), however their current business model is absolutely insane, and yet rarely do they face the same scrutiny they faced in the past (TransAm, ANSETT collapses), or that, say, car manufacturers face…
They don’t really operate in anything even vaguely resembling a “free market”, is I guess the point…