So our national airline is in trouble?

You know the one I mean...it's the one with the kangaroo it relies on to keep hopping all over the place. 

I can't remember when I last flew with them. I haven't actually been anywhere by air in decades. (Don't ask. I'd love a holiday but it has not been possible.)  

It is possible that the last time I flew with the national airline was in 1981 - on my way back from London. I might have chosen it over the old British Airways - and then I might not. Back then our national airline was considered safe and reliable. If things went wrong then it was because of external factors. 

We didn't consider the airline was responsible for losing the Senior Cat's luggage. (The luggage contained all his extensive notes and papers from a research trip - paid for by a scholarship from a prestigious organisation. He finally got it back many years later.)

I didn't hold the airline responsible for the delays that caused me to miss my connecting flight back to my home city...after I had already been travelling for thirty-seven and a half hours. It was "just one of those things". 

This was the national carrier. People used it out of loyalty, out of the belief that it was the right thing to do.

I no longer feel the same way. My cousin and his partner have had their luggage lost - twice. They had to spend a night in a hotel near an airport because a flight was delayed. They no longer fly with the national carrier. 

Now other people tell me that our national airline has "gone all woke", that you get a "Welcome to Country" announcement on every flight, even the internal flights, and that you might not be able to work out where you are actually going because they have renamed some destinations with unrecognisable names. (The names are supposed to be names given to areas by "indigenous" people. The problem is that not everyone agrees as to what a place was actually called and almost nobody recognises it.)

Recently the national carrier displayed a plane showing a "vote yes" on it. There is apparently more than one of these. They would have been expensive paint jobs. Perhaps this is why they demanded that another airline not be allowed to fly in - even while they themselves are not flying all scheduled flights. 

We depend heavily on the air industry in this country. It's a big place and getting from A to B takes time, time many people no longer have to waste. This is how many of the goods we move in and out of the country takes place. Having an almost monopoly no doubt helps a lot. The other air line simply cannot compete with what this one is allowed to do.

So now we know why our air fares are so expensive and why there are almost no international flights in and out of this city. The carrier is being taken to court over more than one issue. They might get a slap on the wrist but my guess is the monopoly will stay for now. It's convenient - for some.