Passengers would no longer have to pay a ticket tax as part of airfare under a new system of fuel taxes and user fees the White House is expected to unveil Wednesday on Capitol Hill.  Marion Blakey, the administrator of the FAA will appear before the Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee to discuss the package, which fundamentally changes the way America’s air traffic control system is funded. Blakey has said the change is needed to help finance the transition to a new, satellite-based air traffic control system in the coming decades.
 
The FAA's proposal is included as part of a draft bill to reauthorize the FAA.  The current authorization expires at the end of September.  According to information HAI has obtained, the domestic ticket tax would be replaced with a system of user fees levied on commercial airlines depending on planes’ actual usage of the air traffic control system. Additionally, the measure would reduce the amount of fuel taxes commercial airlines would pay, though details were not available this morning.
 
According to the information that has been released general aviation and business aviation users would continue to pay a fuel tax, though the draft will likely change the way fuel taxes are calculated. Currently, the system is funded through a mix of appropriated money, fuel taxes and passenger ticket taxes.
 
The major passenger airlines have asked for a user-fee system that would assess, among other factors, how long a plane has been aloft.  The draft proposal is expected to provide $5 billion in bonding authority for the construction of new runways, airport terminals and air traffic control facilities and equipment. The draft also is expected to include the establishment of a quasi-governmental entity made up of stakeholders that would decide how to spend the fee money and when a hike is needed. In the past, Congressman James L. Oberstar, (D-Minnesota), the Transportation and Infrastructure panel’s chairman, has said he dislikes this proposal.
 
HAI will cover the hearing slated to occur at 2 pm this afternoon and provide an update when more details are available. 

Click here to view the FAA’s fact sheet released earlier today