Republican Failure to Reauthorize FAA Results in $25 Million Per Day Tax Holiday for Airline Companies

logo-faaGizmodo:

Right now, you should be saving $25 to $50 when you buy an airplane ticket. Why? Because Congress didn’t approve a bill to keep the FAA running, which means the FAA doesn’t have the authority to collect taxes on airfare, which should mean no taxes for you! Too bad the airlines are pocketing the difference.

As of Saturday, the FAA and federal government is losing out on $25 million a day in tax revenue, $25 million of which should technically result in consumer savings but instead is fattening the pockets of airlines. In anticipation of these airfare taxes expiring, airlines shrewdly bumped up their fares “by the same amount as the federal taxes.” That means even though there are no taxes for consumers to pay, consumers all still paying the same price as before (with the airlines taking all the “tax” money).

But just as its unfair, even immoral, for the airlines to pocket the windfall resulting from the failed reauthorization, it’s also unfair to blame “Congress,” writ large. The failure to reauthorize the FAA is 100 percent the fault of Republicans:

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