airscooter: You only need to look back through this thread to see that Highland Airways probably wouldn't exist at all if it wasn't for public money. Granted, most of that is in the form of contracts for the provision of services, rather than handing over taxpayer's cash just to keep the airline afloat, but don't forget there was also public support for the management buy-out. But I can't think of another airline which is so dependent on public sources of revenue.
And no, that doesn't mean I think Highland should fail; just that we need to be a little less emotional about who should be responsible for its commercial performance.
NS