Why is government regulation of airlines considered a controversial issue?

[Socrates]

Airlines were deregulated years ago and business "took off". Any business regulation is controversial. It should be done as sparingly as possible. The free market does pretty good at "regulating" things for the consumer. However, if this not the case, regulation MAY be in order.

Safety and lack of responsiveness to the consumer are potential good reasons for regulation. The problem is that the government (including this one) may have the best of intentions but have no clue on the needs of business and thus, screw things up. They may also have their own agenda (again, like this one) which usually are driven by social goals. These usually are not in the best interest of business but MAY be looked upon favorably by society as a whole or at least by the party in power.