GBTA to Congress: A PFC Increase Will Harm U.S. Economy

By Newsdesk Mar 9, 2018 2:22pm

On March 6, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) sent letters to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees to remove an increase in the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) from the FY2018 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Act. As currently written, the THUD Appropriations bill would increase the cap on the PFC from $4.50 to $8.50. The estimated cost, $2.6 billion, would be levied on all travelers purchasing airlines tickets.

“Companies across the country depend on air travel to conduct business and drive economic growth,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO. “The net result of the proposed PFC increase would be seen in a loss of GDP growth, jobs, and state and local tax receipts. This is yet another tax on the cost of doing business in the United States and weakens the United States’ ability to compete in an increasingly competitive global market.”

The company says it continues to oppose PFC increases so that business travelers do not face an increase taxes and fees. The GBTA claims their research shows that for every 1 percent change in business travel spending, the U.S. economy gains or loses 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in GDP, $3.3 billion in wages and $1.3 billion in taxes.

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is a business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. GBTA’s 9,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA and the GBTA Foundation deliver education, events, research, advocacy and media to a global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts.

For more information, visit www.gbta.org.

GBTA to Congress: A PFC Increase Will Harm U.S. Economy

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