Trade group A4A slams passenger tax hike
Airline trade group Airlines for America is calling on lawmakers to slap down plans to nearly double the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) tax.
The PFC hike is tied in with the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill which A4A says is a secret tax hike as the bill’s text has not been made public.
The bill was approved on Tuesday by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee.
The group says there is no justification for the hike as airports are ‘flush with cash’ to fund terminal upgrades.
"It is disingenuous at best for Congress to repeatedly saddle traveling families and businesses with tax-hike after tax-hike while airports are sitting on billions in unused funds. Congress has access to over $7 billion in unobligated tax revenue sitting idle in the aviation trust fund that could be used instead of raising taxes," said A4A president and CEO Nicholas E. Calio.
The proposal wants to raise the tax from the current $4.50 to $8.50 which would generate an additional $3.2 billion.
"Choosing to increase this tax is a completely unnecessary poke in the eye and wallet of air travelers. We urge Senators on both sides of the aisle to stand with the 2.4 million people who fly every day by sending a message that tax hikes simply won’t fly," Calio added.
A4A says airport revenues are already at record levels and the nation’s airports banked more than $27 billion in 2015.
Since 2008, more than $100 billion of capital projects have been completed, are currently under construction or have been approved at the nation’s 30 largest airports, A4A says.
Airports themselves have welcomed the proposed tax hike as essential to fund infrastructure projects to keep pace with air travel demand.
"For the benefit of airports, air travelers, and communities now and into the future, Congress must pass the bipartisan proposal," said Todd Hauptli, CEO of the American Association of Airport Executives.
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