National Aviation Policy in Europe

Abstract

Aviation in Europe came to be organized very differently from in the US. On both sides of the Atlantic state involvement had begun with the provision of public subsidies to private companies, but, whereas in the US the state retreated to arms-length regulatory intervention after 1925, in Europe it became progressively more far-reaching, culminating in the development of the ‘flag carrier system’ (Davies 1964, p. 272). At the centre of national aviation systems, publicly owned carriers came to occupy a protected and privileged position. While US carriers were privately owned and had to survive in the market, European airlines were subject to different imperatives. As enterprises focused on production rather than profit seeking, they operated in an environment characterized by collusion and cooperation, and under the tutelage of the state were used by governments to pursue a variety of diplomatic, military and industrial policy objectives.