From the opinion pages of the WSJ:

Spirit Airlines has gone out of business—and its liquidation was greeted in Washington and on Wall Street with a familiar mix of shock and resignation. As one of the nation’s largest ultralow-cost carriers succumbed to rising fuel costs and an insurmountable debt load, the immediate reaction was to ask what went wrong with the budget-airline model. But the fall of Spirit is a symptom of a deeper pathology that plagues both the American airline and automobile industries.

For decades, both industries have shared the same underlying problem: a brittle financial structure created by short-term government protectionism, which masks long-term structural rot. By shielding these industries from the creative destruction of global competition, Washington has inadvertently ensured that their members rank among the most vulnerable companies in the global economy.

…

Policy conclusions:

First, grant cabotage rights to foreign airlines in return for U.S. airlines’ receiving such rights in other countries. Allowing global carriers to fly domestic routes would force U.S. airlines to compete on a global scale, benefiting travelers with lower fares and seamless international travel.

Second, privatize the airports. Several U.S. airports are public monopolies that restrict competition. A privatized, market-driven airport system would encourage existing airports to compete for more airline service and would lead to new private commercial airports.

Third, eliminate all auto tariffs, which hit the least affluent Americans the hardest. Removing those barriers would invite a flood of high-quality, low-cost global supply, forcing Detroit to reclaim the affordable market or cede it to those who can serve it.

Finally, remove domestic barriers such as archaic state auto-dealership laws that prevent direct-to-consumer sales. These laws add thousands of dollars to the price of a vehicle and serve no purpose other than to protect a middleman’s margin at the expense of the driver’s wallet.

I’ll note that unlike ersatz conservatives, true economic conservatives would endorse such recommendations.

The failure of the Republican Party to embrace item 3 demonstrates how the party has deviated from its post-WW II (avowed) values.