Airlines for America (A4A) recently urged Congress to not raise taxes on travelers, as proposed in the Fiscal Year 2018 federal budget, instead directing funds back to airline security.
Fees intended for airline security often are diverted for other purposes by the federal government.
“There is no justification for asking airline customers to pay more, particularly while our government is diverting billions of dollars in security fees away from TSA checkpoints,” A4A said. “Rather than saddling passengers with higher taxes, Congress’s first priority should be to return the billions of dollars passengers have already paid back to where it belongs: paying for aviation security. Tax increases are not the answer, and will only serve to drive up the cost of flying for millions of Americans who rely on air travel, cost jobs, limit service options to small and medium communities and ultimately harm the U.S economy.”
The aviation industry and passengers pay 17 taxes and fees, raising approximately $23.1 billion annually.
The budget proposes an additional $977 million in taxes and fees.
The passenger-security fee would be increased $1 per one-way trip. This would raise $530 million next year, according to the proposed budget.
The customs-user fee and the immigration-user fee would be raised $2. Annually, this would cost passengers $447 million, A4A said.