Security fee on plane tickets may double
Jan 28th 2005, 12:26 am
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Security fee on plane tickets may double
When I was the title of the article I wondered "how much is it".
I just bought 907 euros each in tickets for my wife and I, flight to
Miami, then Miami to the Virgin Island, then back to Miami
and finally back to Paris. The actual ticket costs were 826,
the difference, 81 euros or about 10% of the ticket, were
"taxes" of various kinds. The article says that the fee increase
is only a couple of bucks and not very much in any case. No big
deal.
If the money is well spent, that is. I am not terribly impressed
with Homeland security nor "no fly lists", however and the creation
of a new bureaucracy and the declaration of a new "forever war",
Nixon gave us "war on cancer", and the "war on drugs"
seems like it has only gone on forever. The only war I remember
the US canceling is the "war on poverty" That war started with
Johnson and ended, lost, with Nixon.
Earl
******
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A fee charged to airline travelers to help pay for
airport security would more than double under President Bush's spending
proposal for the Homeland Security Department.
Bush's plan calls for boosting the security fee from $2.50 to $5.50 for a
one-way airline ticket and from a maximum of $5 to $8 for multiple legs. The
hikes are expected to generate $1.5 billion.
Debby McElroy, president of the Regional Airline Association, criticized the
proposal as taxing an industry that already carries one of the highest tax
burdens.
"This could put further pressure on airline revenues at a time when many
carriers are struggling for their very survival," McElroy said.
James C. May, president and CEO of the Air Transport Association, said the
proposal "demonstrates a complete failure to comprehend the economics of a
crippled industry."
Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse declined comment
before the budget is released. "We are confident that it will contain the
resources we need to continue to do our job," he said.
Bush plans to submit his budget proposal to Congress on February 7. Portions
of the Homeland Security budget were obtained Thursday by The Associated
Press.
The White House wants to spend $41 billion on the agency in fiscal year
2006, which begins October 1. That's nearly the same amount as the current
year. However, the department would see a 7 percent increase in money
earmarked for specific security programs, from $32 billion to $34.2 billion.
The Bush plan calls for $100 million to be spent in the next two years for
new equipment to detect explosives on airline passengers. Most U.S. airline
passengers aren't screened for explosives before boarding a plane. The
commission that investigated the September 11 attacks called that a
vulnerability that Congress must address.
Another budget provision would set aside $174 million to complete
installation of high-speed computer connections to replace dial-up
connections used by about half of the nation's airports.
Officials of the Transportation Security Administration have said the
upgrade is needed because some of the nation's largest airports do not have
telephone or computer connections among administrative, screening and
baggage areas. That poses a security risk because a problem could occur in
one area of an airport and another area may not learn of it right away.
The spending proposal also calls for creating an office to coordinate
programs that collect information about foreign visitors, airline and ship
crews, and hazardous materials workers.
The plan would provide more money for authorities to crack down on
undocumented workers and arrest and deport illegal immigrants, but it would
fund only 210 more Border Patrol agents. A bill signed by Bush last year
called for 2,000 additional agents.
Customs and Border Protection would get $125 million to buy equipment to
detect radioactive materials in trucks, trains, cars, air freight, packages
and people, including a new generation of monitors that detect gamma and
neutron radiation.
A new Domestic Nuclear Detection Office would develop a system that tracks
attempts to bring nuclear or radioactive materials into the country or to
assemble them for illegal use.
At a Senate hearing Wednesday, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, top Democrat
on the Homeland Security Committee, said programs to secure U.S. borders,
ports and rail systems were underfunded.
But Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, told
department officials it was unlikely they would receive more money. "I would
urge a review of your situation as to how to get the job done better with
the money that's there now," he said.
Meanwhile, four unions filed suit Thursday to block new Department of
Homeland Security regulations limiting collective bargaining rights of tens
of thousands of the agency's 180,000 employees. The regulations replace
salaries based on workers' seniority with a merit pay system and give
managers broad authority to change employees' shifts and duties without
notice.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. The unions
bringing the lawsuit were the National Treasury Employees Union, American
Federation of Government Employees, National Federation of Federal Employees
and National Association of Agriculture Employees.
I just bought 907 euros each in tickets for my wife and I, flight to
Miami, then Miami to the Virgin Island, then back to Miami
and finally back to Paris. The actual ticket costs were 826,
the difference, 81 euros or about 10% of the ticket, were
"taxes" of various kinds. The article says that the fee increase
is only a couple of bucks and not very much in any case. No big
deal.
If the money is well spent, that is. I am not terribly impressed
with Homeland security nor "no fly lists", however and the creation
of a new bureaucracy and the declaration of a new "forever war",
Nixon gave us "war on cancer", and the "war on drugs"
seems like it has only gone on forever. The only war I remember
the US canceling is the "war on poverty" That war started with
Johnson and ended, lost, with Nixon.
Earl
******
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A fee charged to airline travelers to help pay for
airport security would more than double under President Bush's spending
proposal for the Homeland Security Department.
Bush's plan calls for boosting the security fee from $2.50 to $5.50 for a
one-way airline ticket and from a maximum of $5 to $8 for multiple legs. The
hikes are expected to generate $1.5 billion.
Debby McElroy, president of the Regional Airline Association, criticized the
proposal as taxing an industry that already carries one of the highest tax
burdens.
"This could put further pressure on airline revenues at a time when many
carriers are struggling for their very survival," McElroy said.
James C. May, president and CEO of the Air Transport Association, said the
proposal "demonstrates a complete failure to comprehend the economics of a
crippled industry."
Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse declined comment
before the budget is released. "We are confident that it will contain the
resources we need to continue to do our job," he said.
Bush plans to submit his budget proposal to Congress on February 7. Portions
of the Homeland Security budget were obtained Thursday by The Associated
Press.
The White House wants to spend $41 billion on the agency in fiscal year
2006, which begins October 1. That's nearly the same amount as the current
year. However, the department would see a 7 percent increase in money
earmarked for specific security programs, from $32 billion to $34.2 billion.
The Bush plan calls for $100 million to be spent in the next two years for
new equipment to detect explosives on airline passengers. Most U.S. airline
passengers aren't screened for explosives before boarding a plane. The
commission that investigated the September 11 attacks called that a
vulnerability that Congress must address.
Another budget provision would set aside $174 million to complete
installation of high-speed computer connections to replace dial-up
connections used by about half of the nation's airports.
Officials of the Transportation Security Administration have said the
upgrade is needed because some of the nation's largest airports do not have
telephone or computer connections among administrative, screening and
baggage areas. That poses a security risk because a problem could occur in
one area of an airport and another area may not learn of it right away.
The spending proposal also calls for creating an office to coordinate
programs that collect information about foreign visitors, airline and ship
crews, and hazardous materials workers.
The plan would provide more money for authorities to crack down on
undocumented workers and arrest and deport illegal immigrants, but it would
fund only 210 more Border Patrol agents. A bill signed by Bush last year
called for 2,000 additional agents.
Customs and Border Protection would get $125 million to buy equipment to
detect radioactive materials in trucks, trains, cars, air freight, packages
and people, including a new generation of monitors that detect gamma and
neutron radiation.
A new Domestic Nuclear Detection Office would develop a system that tracks
attempts to bring nuclear or radioactive materials into the country or to
assemble them for illegal use.
At a Senate hearing Wednesday, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, top Democrat
on the Homeland Security Committee, said programs to secure U.S. borders,
ports and rail systems were underfunded.
But Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, told
department officials it was unlikely they would receive more money. "I would
urge a review of your situation as to how to get the job done better with
the money that's there now," he said.
Meanwhile, four unions filed suit Thursday to block new Department of
Homeland Security regulations limiting collective bargaining rights of tens
of thousands of the agency's 180,000 employees. The regulations replace
salaries based on workers' seniority with a merit pay system and give
managers broad authority to change employees' shifts and duties without
notice.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. The unions
bringing the lawsuit were the National Treasury Employees Union, American
Federation of Government Employees, National Federation of Federal Employees
and National Association of Agriculture Employees.
