Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
States licensing and subsidising intrastate air operations is nothing new nor unconstitutional.
Correct. WA's Transport Coordination Act requires that airlines operating RPT services (as defined by that act, not CASA) have to have an aircraft license from the Minister for Transport. The Minister, in turn, has the ability to place conditions on those licenses. That could include price regulation, but the airlines would howl at that, so instead there is a carrot rather than stick approach. Which is all fine at the moment with plenty of money in the bank, and the moral hazard that if the Nats/Libs were going to attack the program, they would be hurting their base in the regions. And Qantas basically laughs all the way to the bank as they are the ones that most people fly on.