FAA Problems Lead To Some Lower Airfares
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – The Federal Aviation Administration's funding problems is giving air travelers some big savings.
The FAA is currently waiting for Congress to give them money to continue new construction and renovations. But, when the FAA funding caused a partial shutdown of operations, it also halted some of the federal ticket taxes.
AAA said that if a passenger paid $61 in taxes for a $300 round-trip ticket before last weekend and bought the same ticket Tuesday; the passenger would end up paying around $30 in ticket taxes.
But before passengers start celebrating too much, only some airlines have decided to pass the savings onto customers. The airlines not raising ticket prices included: Miramar based Spirit Airlines; Alaska Airlines; Virgin America; Hawaiian Airlines; and Frontier Airlines.
Spirit Airlines even took it one step further. On Tuesday, the company launched www.dontTAXmeBRO.com, a grassroots campaign to rally customer support to keep airfare taxes low, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
But on the flip side, most of the major carriers have decided to raise ticket prices and pocket the savings into their profits. Those airlines include: American Airlines; United; Continental; Delta; U.S. Airway; Southwest; and AirTran.
The Obama Administration said the partial shutdown will not impact security in the skies, including air traffic controllers and all security personnel. The funding bill remains stalled in Congress over a provision added by the House GOP that took aim at airline and railway unions.
