Taxes and fees paid by airline passengers are used by Bush administration to fund corporate jets

Ticket taxes fund corporate jets
By BOB PORTERFIELD, Associated Press Writer

The federal government has taken billions of dollars from the taxes and fees paid by airline passengers every time they fly and awarded it to small airports used mainly by private pilots and globe-trotting corporate executives.

Some of these "general aviation" facilities used the federal dollars for enhancements such as longer runways and passenger terminals aimed at luring traffic, an Associated Press review has found. And the money comes with little oversight, and at the expense of an increasingly beleaguered air transportation system.

"They're making out like bandits," said Bob Poole, director of transportation studies at Southern California's Reason Foundation and author of several studies on air transportation costs. "It's not only that airline passengers are paying more than their fair share, but they're being overtaxed to give private jets a free ride."

Passengers pay as many as six separate taxes and fees on a single airline ticket, adding up to more than $104 billion since 1997, the AP found. Yet these assessments often are overlooked by the millions who click the "buy" button to purchase tickets online, even though they can exceed 25 percent of the total airfare...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070415/ap_on_bi_ge/ticket_taxes;_ylt=ApCOrGD_tfWlmcRmUoTvRZVv24cA

that they'll actually hear about it. Imus and Anna Nicole rule the air waves and if there's a missing white girl somewhere? :wow: Forget about it!

:sarcasm: heaven forbid we should suspend welfare for the wealthy people.

ellen fl

where the peasants support the lords of the manor. I'm happy my "flying days" are over.

Airport ticket taxes have been a long term subsidy for corporate jet operators and also for small general aviation pilots. They pay a portion of air traffic control and airport costs through fuel taxes but not all of it.

From what I've read it looks like we're going to have a Canadian or european style user fee for services replacing this. Although it seems more fair I'm sure the new laws will have plenty of corporate jet subsidies built in or attached at the last minute.

Even first class sucks. Private jets are much nicer.

I'll wait for the news releases.

We should all walk out onto a runway and burn our boarding passes. Call it the (fill in name of airport here) Runway Party.