FlightPathOBN
22nd Jul 2011, 18:57
Airline tickets are going to get cheaper Saturday unless Congress can reach an agreement before midnight on extending authority for the Federal Aviation Administration, which gives airlines the ability to collect taxes on behalf of the government.
If the FAA's authority is not extended, airlines would no longer have the authority to collect federal taxes, which according to the Air Transport Association, is about $61 on a $300 round-trip airfare.
"The airlines have been alerted to the potential to need to make this change, and are working on it," said Jean Medina, a spokeswoman for the association.
The FAA would also face a partial shutdown since nearly 4,000 jobs out of the FAA's 47,000 workforce are funded with ticket tax revenues.
The shutdown is the byproduct of political deadlock in Congress over two provisions in legislation meant to extend the agency's operating authority -- one on subsidies for rural airports and another on union power. It is all but guaranteed to happen since the Senate won't approve a House-passed version of a temporary extension of existing law.
Read more: Airline Flights Could Get Cheaper if FAA Shuts Down Saturday Morning - FoxNews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/22/faa-headed-for-shutdown-at-midnight-over-congressional-stalemate/#ixzz1SrVZyxgz)
If the FAA's authority is not extended, airlines would no longer have the authority to collect federal taxes, which according to the Air Transport Association, is about $61 on a $300 round-trip airfare.
"The airlines have been alerted to the potential to need to make this change, and are working on it," said Jean Medina, a spokeswoman for the association.
The FAA would also face a partial shutdown since nearly 4,000 jobs out of the FAA's 47,000 workforce are funded with ticket tax revenues.
The shutdown is the byproduct of political deadlock in Congress over two provisions in legislation meant to extend the agency's operating authority -- one on subsidies for rural airports and another on union power. It is all but guaranteed to happen since the Senate won't approve a House-passed version of a temporary extension of existing law.
Read more: Airline Flights Could Get Cheaper if FAA Shuts Down Saturday Morning - FoxNews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/22/faa-headed-for-shutdown-at-midnight-over-congressional-stalemate/#ixzz1SrVZyxgz)