Aviation Security Funding

The Issue:  All Americans benefit from a secure, reliable aviation system.  Each year, travelers and airlines pay billions of dollars in security fees every year, unnecessarily adding to the cost of tickets and impacting air service opportunities.  Higher air fares significantly impact the bottom line for business travel buyers and their employers.  The GBTA Foundation found that travel buyers expect North America domestic fares in 2012 to increase 5% to $487 for an average round-trip fare.   Taxes on a typical $300 round-trip ticket have nearly tripled since 1972, increasing from 7% to 20%. Particularly in today’s tough economy, business travelers should not be hit with another discriminatory tax that discourages travel. 

In 2011, the federal government considered security fee increases to raise at least $15 billion over 10 years for debt-reduction plans.  The Administration proposed increasing the passenger security fee from $2.50 per segment, up to $10 maximum round-trip, to $5 for a one-way trip and yearly increases of 50 cents from 2013 to 2017, ending with up to a $15 security fee on a round-trip fare. Although no increases were passed and revenue from fee increases would only make a tiny dent in reducing the federal deficit, security fee increases remain under consideration.

GBTA Position:  GBTA believes the safest and most cost-effective approach to aviation security is intelligence-driven, risk-based passenger-screening programs.  Rather than pushing for higher fees, the federal government should focus its resources on accelerating full implementation of these programs.  Additional fee increases, including security fee increases, are unsustainable and unnecessary, and discourage business travel.  Congress must fully fund these critical programs.