Airlines for America, the industry trade organization for U.S. airlines, again urged Congress to improve efficiency within the Transportation Security Administration, not pile more taxes on already burdened airline passengers, as approved today by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
"It's a simple equation: When you add taxes, demand for air travel is dampened, resulting in lost jobs and lost air service," said A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. "Our customers today pay 20 percent - $60 on an average $300 domestic roundtrip ticket - of their ticket prices in taxes, on par with taxes for alcohol and tobacco, products taxed to discourage their use."
Officials noted that under the proposal approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, security taxes would double from $2.50 to $5, which would cost airline passengers more than $700 million annually and could impact 76,000 good-paying jobs.
A4A said programs that take a risk-based approach to security, including TSA PreCheck and Known Crewmember, and enable TSA to focus its resources on greater threats are a more appropriate way to improve efficiency within the TSA.
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