Airlines for America, the trade organisation representing US carriers, has urged Congress to oppose the proposed increases in tax on air travel that are included in the President’s FY2021 budget request.
The group suggest the proposed aviation taxes and fees would potentially cost passengers an additional $2.7 billion per year. This is in addition to the $26 billion passengers paid in 2019, the organisation said.
The proposed taxes are aimed at many security elements such as TSA Passenger Security, Customs Users and Immigration Users. The TSA Passenger Security fee is proposed to increase by 18% in 2021 and then an additional 25% in FY2022, which A4A suggest would increase taxes on passengers by an estimated $618 million in FY2021.
The Customs Inspection User Fee is proposed to increase by 34%, while the Immigration Inspection User Fee by 29%.
The group suggested the tax increases could “jeopardise” the choice, access and affordability currently offered to consumers, adding: “Nearly 90 percent of Americans have flown on an airline some time in their lives, and 42 percent of them have family incomes under $75,000, according to a recent A4A survey.”
“Increasing taxes in any form would burden families with higher costs to fly, curtail job growth and limit air service options to small and rural communities,” the group added.
A4A has also called on Congress to end the practice of diverting security fee funds. Suggesting that “since 2014, approximately $1.3 billion per year in TSA fees has been diverted away from its intended purpose, which is to pay for aviation security screening.”
Airlines for America told LARA in a statement: “We are in the age of accessible air travel. US airlines transport 2.4 million passengers each and every day and travellers continue to take to the skies in record numbers due in large part to historically low airfares. Raising taxes would be bad for travellers, bad for families and bad for the American economy.
“It is unnecessary to burden travellers with tax hikes when approximately $1.3 billion per year in security fees have been diverted to pay for deficit reduction and the Airport and Airway Trust Fund has a multi-billion dollar reserve balance.”
The President’s 2021 budget proposal would also grant $14.2 billion to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), including $37 million for targeted investments to improve the administration’s ability to respond to industry innovation, safety and accountability. This includes $30 million to improve aviation oversight following the recommendations following the Boeing 737 MAX review.
