WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2011 - The Air Transport Association of America
(ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines,
today called on members of Congress to reject President Obama's plan to
impose $3.5 billion annually in new taxes
on airlines and their passengers to pay off the country's budget
deficit. If the airline industry is burdened with billions of dollars in
new taxes, ATA warned that its members will have no choice but to raise
fares or reduce service, which will mean fewer jobs.
"Airlines are the physical Internet, connecting people, products and
the world, driving the global economy and creating millions of jobs. To
further burden this already financially challenged industry is both
illogical and a job destroyer. The results will be devastating to the
U.S. economy," said ATA CEO and President Nicholas E. Calio in a speech to the International Aviation Club of Washington.
"The U.S. government continues to use the airline industry as a cash
cow, rather than seeing airlines as a growth enabler and understanding
the strategic nature of aviation and what it takes to support one of our
country's most critical industries," Calio said.
Today, federal taxes and fees in the United States constitute $61, or 20 percent, of the cost of a typical $300 domestic round-trip ticket, higher than taxes paid for alcohol, tobacco or guns. The overall federal aviation tax burden in the United States
has tripled since 1972. "We are saddled with tax and regulatory
mandates and restrictions that are unheard of for other industries,"
Calio said.
Calio offered a global perspective and compared increasingly punitive
U.S. government policies with other countries that view aviation as a
strategic asset and work cooperatively with airlines to ensure
successful growth. "Governments in China, Brazil, India and the Middle East understand the competitive necessity and opportunity a vibrant aviation system provides," Calio said.
Rather than further taxing overburdened airline passengers, ATA urged
Congress to focus its attention on supporting a National Airline
Policy. "We are ready and willing to work collaboratively with the U.S.
Government on our nation's priorities for the future, using all the good
work that has already been done. We need an airline policy that will
treat our airlines like the global businesses they are, and enable them
to operate as such," Calio said.
ABOUT ATA
Annually, commercial aviation helps drive more than $1 trillion
in U.S. economic activity and more than 10 million U.S. jobs. ATA
airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of
all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic.
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