The leaders of six airlines called on Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on Thursday to reject a Senate panel’s proposal to nearly double the passenger facility charge (PFC), which is also known as the airport tax.
In a letter to Chao, the airline executives wrote that airlines are already “overburdened” by 17 different federal fees that total more than $24 billion and account for nearly 21 percent of the cost of roundtrip tickets.
“We have nearly $6 billion in unobligated funding in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund that could be utilized for airport infrastructure” the executives, who are all board members of Airlines for America (A4A), wrote. “Airlines are committed to making capital improvements in infrastructure alongside our well-funded airport partners, and we respectfully ask for your commitment to solutions that do not involve unnecessary tax increases on the traveling public.”
The letter noted that airports had more than $14.2 billion in unrestricted cash and investments on hand, as well as access to nearly $6 billion in uncommitted funding for infrastructure projects in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. However, more than $9 billion was delivered to non-aviation related projects.
“Airlines and airports have a history of partnering on significant capital improvements throughout the nation’s airport system,” the letter stated. “Since 2008, over $100 billion of airport improvement projects have been completed, are underway or approved at the nation’s largest 30 airports alone, and development is robust at smaller airports across the country such as Dayton, Erie, and Sioux Falls.”
Airport capital projects result from negotiations between airports and airline partners, the executives continued, and those negotiations should occur “without government interference or taxation.”
The letter also noted that congressional committees with jurisdiction, the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, voted not to increase the PFC. However, the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee voted to nearly double it, “which is neither justified nor needed to accomplish our shared goal of improving the nation’s airport infrastructure for our customers.”