National political frameworks have a major impact on the operations of the airline industry. This is because almost all countries have a ‘national carrier’ – an airline that carries the country’s flag, is headquartered in the capital city, and represents that country (Riwo-Abudho et al, 2013). Given that these carriers are seen as representing the nation, they tend to receive a great deal of support from government, and globally, many remain government-owned. Withdrawal of such support, for whatever reason, can be disastrous for national carriers, as Italy’s national carrier Alitalia found in the 2000s (Beria, Niemeier, and Fröhlich, 2011).