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The State Department also marshals impressive statistics to prove that U.S. overseas airlines have not been badly hurt despite increased competition. In 1955, the last year for which figures are available, U.S. airlines got $225 million from overseas operations v. only $119 million for all foreign operations on U.S. routes. State Department economists also note that this year Pan American will carry 20,000 more passengers on transatlantic runs than in 1956, an increase greater than the total transatlantic business of either British Overseas Airways or Air France. Furthermore, while economics technically dictates all route awards, international politics always plays a role. The State Department emphasizes that American airline operations everywhere overseas are almost entirely dependent on the good will of foreign nations, which means that they must be kept reasonably happy. An uproar over routes can arouse surprising bitterness. In the case of Holland's KLM, Queen Juliana herself made an earnest speech for a U.S. route because to the Dutch, like many others, the airline is not merely a business but a national symbol, compensation in part for the vanishing Dutch navy and the lost East Indies.
In any event, says the State Department, the mere granting of routes does not mean an immediate, full-scale competitive attack on U.S. carriers. Of the 62 agreements between the U.S. and foreign nations, 32 have still not been put into action, and many will probably never take effect because of the cost of setting up an airline. But this is one argument that really riles U.S. airlines. While it is true that the airline business is getting more expensive, the fact that international airlines are also instruments of national prestige means that every nation, big or little, wants one, and that governments are only too glad to step in with the necessary subsidies to buy new equipment.
Thus, for better or worse, the U.S. must prepare for increasing airline competition from abroad. The main hope for U.S. lines is not to try to restrict competition but to outrace it by faster aircraft, lower fares, more and better flights, food and service. As in everything else, the businessman who pleases most of the customers most of the time inevitably walks off with most of the business.