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Fix air travel in America:
[The Hill] Within the infrastructure debate in Washington, let us not lose sight of the condition of America’s airports.President Trump and newly elected members of Congress campaigned on a promise to fix our country’s outdated infrastructure, often citing airports as a prime example. But if the past has taught us anything, it’s that everyone holds hands when it comes to talking about infrastructure, but points fingers when it comes to paying for it. The case for investing in airports is clear. U.S. airports count themselves among the world’s busiest, yet no U.S. airports ‐ once the envy of the world ‐ crack the top 30 for the world’s best airports. From London’s Heathrow to Seoul’s Incheon, countries around the world ‐ with whom we directly compete for tourism dollars ‐ have prioritized air travel infrastructure, while America’s aging, inadequate facilities are creating more hassle and congestion than ever. Without improvements, passengers won’t just lose their time and patience: the U.S. economy stands to lose billions of dollars in travel spending if nothing is done to address the state of our country’s air travel infrastructure. In 2016, Americans avoided 32 million trips because of airport hassles, costing $24 billion in spending. Can this problem be solved? Since Congress is loath to raise taxes, the outlook for any transportation pay-for is usually bleak. But, when it comes to airports, there is a simple tax-free solution: raise the cap on the passenger facility charge (PFC), which gives airports the option to adjust their own user fees if they need infrastructure improvements. Posted by: Besoeker 2019-05-11 |
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