AA191, HP has considerably fewer of your tax dollars than AA or UA or the other carriers, thanks to the grants from Air Transportation Stabilization Act.
I assume you are referring to the LOAN GUARANTEE that HP got from the ATSB, but the fact is that the government is ahead on that deal. HP paid a couple million in fees to get the LOAN GUARANTEE, and the government pays not one red cent unless HP goes out of business. And the way things are looking, HP is the least likely of the major hub-spoke carriers to go otu of business.
Additionally, if you want to erroneously include the LOAN GUARANTEE with the ATSA grants, then the total government compensation for AWA was about $480 million. Which is, by the way, still less than AA, UA, DL and maybe NW.
As for UA getting one of the DCA slot exemptions, it will only happen out of sympathy, and the odds are only slightly better than Janet Reno being the next governor of Florida.
The Air 21 legislation favors new entrant carriers -- meaning those who have little or no access to DCA -- and those who can serve the West. That gives HP, AS and F9 a HUGE advantage over the cartel airlines.