mmeman - let me get this right.
Your relatives flew from Newcastle, because there was no suitable flight from MME, and you had to drive there and back to pick them up. You therefore have had to pay the fuel cost, and also spend almost 3 hours of your time
However, you still want your local council as a shareholder in MME, to continue indirectly subsidising MME, despite it meaning you are effectively paying more in council tax but aren't seeing the benefit from its existence. Forget about Westminster giving any more money for MME - Peel and the local Govt of Teesside are being left to fend for their own on this.
Yes, I know MME might get lots of flights in the future, but where are real prospects for MME's future growth (i.e. name some new airlines and routes which have a good chance of profitability and why an airline would not start them from NCL instead) and how long should one continue to subsidise in the hope that MME will revive before saying 'enough is enough' ?