Originally Posted by FatFreeGoodness

Pigglet: “...the airlines invite the public in, they use public tax dollars heavily, and i argue that makes them different from mom&pop's upscale italian restaurant, or welfare mom's shitty one-bedroom apartment, or an f16, or an industrial factory. it makes them a lot more like the town square, or the mall, or the sidewalk, …”

Both your basic premise and your comparisons are flawed, here.

Flawed Examples: your assumptions as to how “public” the various locations you cite have no basis in reality. It appears you are assuming that many people being present makes something public, since you call a town square and a mall "public." But while a town square is publicly owned, a mall is private property. The mall invites customers, not all comers. They have the right to restrict behavior that is not in their best interests (which is selling things), even though the behavior may be perfectly legal. For instance, you have a right to hand out pro-choice or anti-abortion leaflets in public, but the mall may eject you for this. It is illegal to discriminate against customers based on certain characteristics such as race, but don’t assume that such rules make the mall any less private property. The same rules apply when you sell your house or car.

Flawed Premise: Receipt of tax benefits / subsidies mean an entity is semi-public-owned.
Reality: Simply not true. A factory may elect to locate in a state because the state offers tax subsidies. The state does assuming the factory will provide enough economic benefit to make it worthwhile. The factory does NOT become any less private property if they choose to take the offer.
Similarly, an airport may be constructed using public funds (as in most cities) because the cities think they will benefit from the improved air service they hope will result. The airlines do not become partially owned by the city or state, regardless.
Consider this: Imagine you are planning on building a garage on your property, and I offer you $5,000 to build it farther from our mutual property line. You accept, and build it in a location we mutually approve. Later, I assert that I can store my lawn equipment in the garage because I paid for part of it. However, that was not our deal.