Airports and airlines are wrangling over a proposal to tack an extra $4 onto the price of a plane ticket. The airports say it will allow them to build more gates and improve infrastructure, but airlines don’t see it that way.
The passenger facility charge (PFC) is a $4.50 surcharge that airports can use to enhance security and increase capacity.
Some airports want congress to raise the maximum PFC to $8:50.
US travel association president Roger Dow said it would help airports, like Orlando International, to expand.
“You’re seeing Abu Dhabi, flights from there, you’re seeing flights from South America, from airlines you’ve never heard of before," said Dow.
"So it allows the airport to increase competition, increase security, increase processing.”
But the trade organization for airlines in the US described it as a tax hike on the traveling public.
Airlines for America said airports should look to other means to raise money, like bonds.