Despite all that has happened out at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and in Charlotte city politics in the wake of Patrick Cannon pleading guilty to accepting bribes, it’s still full steam ahead with Charlotte City Council handing out a limited number of permits to select taxi companies to pick up fares at the airport. Per the UPoR:

Before the process was reopened, three cab companies were allowed to pick up at Charlotte Douglas: City Cab, Crown Cab and Yellow Cab. They had 157 licenses total.

Under the new system, City Cab, Crown Cab and Yellow Cab will remain. They will each have 47 permits. The fourth company is Green Cab, which will have 30 permits.

Twelve companies applied for service at the airport. The companies and drivers not selected were furious at being shut out of the airport, which they said is crucial to their business.

“Saying this process was fair is like saying Patrick Cannon didn’t take bribes,” said Obaid Khan of Diamond Cab, which wasn’t selected. “You might as well tell us to stop doing business.”

And this:

Mayur Khandelwal of Crown Cab said he will keep access to the airport, but will lose 22 permits.

“I will have to go back and tell these drivers you can’t work at the airport,” he said. “One-third of my drivers will be kicked out of the airport.”

Explain to me again why this doesn’t amount to the city picking winners and losers and why the market couldn’t solve this issue? Allow any cab that meets the city’s airport quality standards to pick up fares at the airport, and if the wait time is too long for this to be a profitable for the cab company/driver, then the oversupply will take care of itself.