WASHINGTON, D.C.
A legislative proposal to increase the airline security tax is disappointing and shortsighted, an airline trade group has said, claiming the higher fee could severely hurt the industry as it rebounds from the recession.
The reaction from Airlines for America, the Washington trade group, came in response to a budget proposal by House Budget Committee Chairman
Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). Among other budget ideas, he proposed changing the so-called Sept. 11 security fee from $2.50 for every segment of a trip to $5 for each way, regardless of the number of stops.
The chairman's proposal calls for the same airline fee increase that the White House has requested to help pay for airport security costs but differs in other ways from the Obama administration's 2013 budget. The increase would raise about $700 million a year.
"We cannot continue to put more taxes on airline passengers — who already pay more than $60 in taxes on a typical $300 round-trip ticket — with this disappointing and shortsighted approach that ultimately will discourage business travel and tourism," said Nicholas E. Calio, chief executive of the trade group.
