If you were disappointed by the air ticket tax holiday that wasn't -- because so many carriers offset the drop by increasing fares over the weekend-- check out this near-rant by the chief of a group that represents airports.
"So… you might expect that airlines would pass the savings along to the passengers," Greg Principato, president of Airports Council International - North America, posted on his blog Monday. "If you expected that you must have been living under a damn rock. Of course, the airlines won’t pass that along; they will just raise fares and pocket the difference.
"It must be executive bonus season at the airlines.
"One analyst estimates that the airlines will collect $25 million PER DAY!!!! That might cover an executive bonus or two. They certainly won’t use it to hire customer service agents."
The federal government has been unable to collect air-ticket taxes since midnight Friday, after laws authorizing it to impose the taxes were allowed to expire by a gridlocked Congress. The taxes involved can amount to about $30 on a $300 domestic ticket, depending on the routing.
As for Spirit's rivals, The Associated Press writes "American, United, Continental, Delta, US Airways, Southwest, AirTran and JetBlue all raised fares, although details sometimes differed. Most of the increases were around 7.5%," or roughly the amount of the federal taxes that were suspended Friday.
It's also worth noting that some fees -- such as the Sept. 11 security fee and some airport fees -- are unaffected by the FAA shutdown.
With that, Spirit, Hawaiian and Alaska are the only airlines left that have opted to pass the "tax holiday" along to customers.
As for the other airlines, George Hobica -- founder of travel website airfarewatchdog.com -- questioned the pubic-relations wisdom of the other airlines' moves.
"It seems predatory," he tells AP. "I realize the airlines have to make money, but this is kind of a cheap shot. It's tone-deaf."
AP adds background on the taxes:
The expiring taxes can total $25 or more on a typical $300 round-trip ticket. They died after midnight Friday night when Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running.
That gave airlines a choice: They could do nothing — and pass the savings to customers — or grab some of the money themselves.
"We adjusted prices so the bottom-line price of a ticket remains the same as it was before ... expiration of federal excise taxes," said American spokesman Tim Smith. US Airways spokesman John McDonald said much the same thing — passengers will pay the same amount for a ticket as they did before the taxes expired.
Most airlines were noncommittal as to whether the fare hikes would be rescinded once Congress resolves its impasse and the FAA is again allowed to collect taxes.
As for details on the taxes affected by the shutdown, The Associated Press says they include "the 7.5% ticket tax; a separate excise tax of $3.70 per segment, or a takeoff and landing; a $16.30 tax on international arrivals and departures; a 6.25% tax on freight shipments, and other levies, according to a Treasury Department spokeswoman. Airlines would continue to collect the passenger security fee of $2.50 per segment and the 'passenger facility charge,' or PFC, of up to $18 per round trip, which helps pay for local airport projects."
CNN adds travelers "who had already purchased tickets -- and paid airline taxes -- for flights taking off Sunday or afterward should be able to get a tax refund, Treasury officials said. That's because airlines collect taxes up front but the federal government doesn't get the money until the plane takes off. The Treasury Department is working with the airlines to come up with a way for flyers to get a refund for the days there are no taxes owed, a Treasury spokeswoman confirmed.
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