I agree, Bob. But just try to get the government to do that. The gov is in A4A's pocket Congress and the Exec.
I rail all the time against the airlines who complain about ATC and then rob the Aviation Trust Fund of much needed capital. Ideaworkds shows airlines made The CarTrawler worldwide estimate leaps nearly 26% above 2023 and nearly $39 billion above the pre-pandemic year of 2019. It projects airline ancillary revenue will increase to $148.4 billion worldwide for 2024, compared to $117.9 billion for 2023 and well above the previous $109.5 billion record in 2019. It's a license to print money. And now, they want ATC and FAA reform to be funded by general revenues. Oh pleeeeeeeze! https://ideaworkscompany.com/airline-ancillary-revenue-skyrockets-to-148-4-billion-worldwide-for-2024-press-release/ Cheers -- Kathryn On Sat, Jul 26, 2025 at 2:16 AM Robert S. Distler via Mifnet < mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> wrote: > Kathryn, > > > > Among other things, this suggests how much trust fund revenue is lost by > not taxing ancillary fees—which used to be part of (taxable) fares. If > it’s not “enough” then the 7.5% tax rate needs to be reconsidered. > > > > Bob Distler > > > > > > *From:* Kathryn Creedy via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> > *Sent:* Friday, 25 July, 2025 11:59 > *To:* mifnet@lists.mifnet.com > *Cc:* Kathryn Creedy <kcre...@gmail.com> > *Subject:* [Mifnet 🛰 73339] Re: FW: Aviation Policy News #236 > > > > I'm reading Bob Poole's Aviation Policy report posted to Mifnet recently. > I do so enjoy his reporting. > > > > He reminds us that the aviation trust fund is SUPPOSED to pay for ATC > improvements and warns that once it moves to depending on general revenues > it competes with everything else. He also reminds us FAA is completely > underfunded for its missions, something everyone has been complaining about > for years. So, it seems to me that if FAA is underfunding when aviation > trust fund monies were available, then it still is at the mercy of > Congressional budget vagaries. > > > > In the 1980s, Daniel Patrick Moynihan railed against Congressional > budgets, reporting that every trust fund SS, Medicaid, aviation, highway > ... was full of cobwebs because Congress "borrowed" the funds to make the > deficit look smaller. So now it seems to me we are in the lack-of-funding > boat no matter which way we fund ATC. > > > > But I maintain that all the headlines of the past 6 months declaring > "victory" or "liberty" or whatever, were just that headlines designed to > fool the electorate. The BBB was the Congressional version of this > flimflammery, making headlines of what it was able to accomplish only to > claw back funding under appropriations bills. So, now that the combined > efforts of the Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle have spent > decades not allowing government to do its job and generally making it > useless, how do we put humpty dumpty back together again? > > > > But the bottom line here is the deficit and we should all be worried. > Congress -- Dems and Reps both -- have raised the deficit to a staggering > 36T. Well, having broken government and put the US on the fiscal brink, > there is no way forward except to raise taxes, whether it is for the ATF or > general revenues. This is going to be very painful. I have never understood > why social security taxes are only on the first couple of 100k. > > > > The rest of this issue is equally fascinating and the quotable quotes at > the end? Priceless. Cheers -- Kathryn > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Revised: 20250507 > > You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. > > The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't > exactly cost-free. If you'd care to make a small contribution to the > effort, please know that it would be greatly appreciated: > https://wardell.us/url/mifbit > > All posts sent to the list should abide by these policies: > > 1) List members acknowledge that participation in Mifnet is a > privilege--not a right. > 2) Posts are always off the record, absent specific permission from the > author. > 3) The tone of discussions is collegial. > 4) Posts are expected to be in reasonably good taste. > 5) We discuss ideas and not personalities, and we don't speak ill of other > Mifnet members. > > * The Mifnet WEB SITE is: > https://www.mifnet.com/ > > * To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list at any time please visit: > https://lists.mifnet.com/ > OR: SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: > mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=leave > > * Send Mifnet mailing list POSTS/SUBMISSIONS to: > mifnet@lists.mifnet.com > > * You may reach the person managing The Mifnet at: > mifnet-ow...@lists.mifnet.com > > * Please consider the DIGEST version of The Mifnet, which consolidates all > list traffic into 1-3 > messages daily. See instructions at: > https://lists.mifnet.com/ > > * Manage your personal Mifnet SUBSCRIPTION at: > https://lists.mifnet.com/ > > * For a list of all available Mifnet commands, SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: > mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=help > > * View The Mifnet LIST POLICIES and PRIVACY POLICY at: > https://mifnet.com/index.php/policies > > * View instructions for Mifnet DELIVERY PROBLEMS at: > https://mifnet.com/index.php/delivery-problems > > * View The Mifnet LIST ARCHIVE at: > https://lists.mifnet.com/hyperkitty/list/mifnet@lists.mifnet.com/ > -- Kathryn Creedy PHONE # 321 405 4395 US-Eastern Time Zone *Twitter*: @kcreedy *Visit me on LinkedIn*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revised: 20250507 You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't exactly cost-free. If you'd care to make a small contribution to the effort, please know that it would be greatly appreciated: https://wardell.us/url/mifbit All posts sent to the list should abide by these policies: 1) List members acknowledge that participation in Mifnet is a privilege--not a right. 2) Posts are always off the record, absent specific permission from the author. 3) The tone of discussions is collegial. 4) Posts are expected to be in reasonably good taste. 5) We discuss ideas and not personalities, and we don't speak ill of other Mifnet members. * The Mifnet WEB SITE is: https://www.mifnet.com/ * To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list at any time please visit: https://lists.mifnet.com/ OR: SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=leave * Send Mifnet mailing list POSTS/SUBMISSIONS to: mifnet@lists.mifnet.com * You may reach the person managing The Mifnet at: mifnet-ow...@lists.mifnet.com * Please consider the DIGEST version of The Mifnet, which consolidates all list traffic into 1-3 messages daily. See instructions at: https://lists.mifnet.com/ * Manage your personal Mifnet SUBSCRIPTION at: https://lists.mifnet.com/ * For a list of all available Mifnet commands, SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=help * View The Mifnet LIST POLICIES and PRIVACY POLICY at: https://mifnet.com/index.php/policies * View instructions for Mifnet DELIVERY PROBLEMS at: https://mifnet.com/index.php/delivery-problems * View The Mifnet LIST ARCHIVE at: https://lists.mifnet.com/hyperkitty/list/mifnet@lists.mifnet.com/
