- News>
- Internet & Social Media
Airlines in US want govt to pick up security costs
Washington, June 04: Airlines in the US will press Congress this summer to extend government responsibility for paying aviation security costs and to ease taxes on the industry, Delta Air Lines chief executive Leo Mullin said.
Mullin was not specific on whether the airlines want permanent help or some combination of security cost and tax relief over a fixed period. John Mica, a Florida Republican and chairman of the aviation subcommittee in the House of Representatives, was not encouraging about the prospect of more substantial aid for an industry the government has helped twice since the '01 hijack attacks.
Congress approved a $15bn package of cash and loan guarantees to the airlines after the attacks and agreed to a $3.5bn aid package in April. The centrepiece of the second aid plan reimbursed carriers for $2.3bn in security costs they had paid the government since February '02.
Much of that came from a passenger security fee of up to $10 per round trip the airlines were forced to absorb because tickets have been deeply discounted during the worst-ever downturn in business.
Bureau Report