Payday

Airlines Profit From FAA Shutdown

Obama says crisis will be fixed by end of week.

Maybe the president can avoid another national crisis. On Wednesday, Obama said he expects a fix to the FAA shutdown this week. But there’s one group that’s happy Congress hasn't gotten around to reopening the FAA: U.S. airline companies. Those carriers stand to make $1.3 billion off the shutdown by raising ticket prices to reflect the taxes the FAA is unable to collect. Meanwhile, 4,000 workers are out of a job, and dozens of safety inspectors have been asked to work for free. The FAA has forgone $28.6 million a day in aviation taxes since midnight on July 22, when its collection authority expired, and Congress won’t reconvene until September. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says it’s “unfair” that airlines raised their prices based on the absent taxes and is looking into ways to retroactively collect them.