As an Englishman it is quite embarrasing to think that the word protectionism could ever be mentioned in the immediate aftermath of September 11th.
Wino, please accept from me (and presumeably countless others), our sincere condolences for the attrocities committed against your country and feel assured in knowing that we (at BA) understand the 'siege logistics' of returning aircraft to their homeland. I, as a BA pilot, see no ulterior motive to the FAA proposals, particularly as they no longer apply.
I can assure you that the individual you have traded abuse at in this thread, is at best a Paranoid Schizophrenic who has paraded himself as a captain of industry for a few years now. You can judge by his tally of posts (in their thousands) that he is most definitely a sad individual who spends the majority of his time 'surfing' in order to maintain his 'Walter Mitty'-like persona.
Please accept my apology for sharing the same island with him and join me in wishing the whole industry the best of luck in this dark hour.