GBTA agradou ao Congresso ouvir a mensagem de que o aumento do PFC prejudicaria a economia dos EUA
PFC Increase Left Out of Omnibus Spending Bill
Alexandria, VA (March 21, 2018) – Tonight, Congress released the details of the Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus spending bill, which would fund the government through September. The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) was pleased to see that attempts to increase air passengers’ flight costs were rebuffed. Congressional leaders rejected a proposal from Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to increase the cap on passenger facility charges (PFC) from $4.50 to $8.50.
Currently, PFCs are capped at $4.50 per flight segment with a maximum of two PFCs charged on a one-way trip or four PFCs on a round trip, for a maximum of $18.00 total. If the increase had gone through that maximum would have jumped to $26, meaning an estimated $2.6 billion would have been levied on all travelers purchasing airlines tickets.
The impact of the rejected PFC hike would have been drastic:
A reduction of $2.74 billion of airline tickets sold in the United States
A decrease of $3.5 billion in U.S. GDP
Job loss by nearly 500,000 jobs
“Congress has again recognized that such a large increase of the PFC is simply unwarranted,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO. “Travel in general, and specifically business travel, is greatly impacted by increased taxes and fees. Rejecting this increase, is a positive step towards continued business travel growth, which drives lasting economic growth.”
GBTA research has found that for every 1 percent change in business travel spending, the U.S. economy gains or loses 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in GDP, $3.3 billion in wages and $1.3 billion in taxes. Taxes and fees associated with travel typically lead to a negative effect.
Sobre a Global Business Travel Association
A Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) é a principal organização comercial de viagens de negócios e reuniões do mundo, com sede na área de Washington, DC, com operações em seis continentes. Os mais de 9.000 membros do GBTA gerenciam mais de $345 bilhões de despesas globais com viagens e reuniões de negócios anualmente. GBTA oferece educação, eventos, pesquisa, advocacia e mídia de classe mundial para uma rede global crescente de mais de 28.000 profissionais de viagens e 125.000 contatos ativos. Para saber como as viagens de negócios impulsionam o crescimento duradouro dos negócios, visite www.gbta.org.