GBTA Pleased that Transportation Bill Rejects Massive Proposed Increase to Travel Fee

Alexandria, VA (June 10, 2015) – The United States House of Representatives late Tuesday night passed a bill to fund the Department of Transportation for Fiscal Year 2016. The bill doesn’t include a near doubling of passenger facility charges (PFCs), from $4.50 to $8, for each time a business traveler deplanes, first proposed in President Obama’s FY 2016 Budget Blueprint. The statement below can be attributed to Michael W. McCormick, Executive Director and COO of the Global Business Travel Association.

“This PFC increase is nothing but a $2.3 billion hidden tax increase on travelers. In a win for common-sense, the House appropriations committee rejected a PFC increase by keeping it out of transportation bill. The nation’s business travelers thank Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart and the House Appropriations Committee for their leadership on this issue and rejecting the increase.

Some organizations want you to believe our airports are in a state of chaos and road warriors support tax increases. Neither is true. Business travelers simply can’t afford and don’t support an 80 percent increase on the tax to fly. This is an unnecessary and misguided proposal. We are pleased the House of Representatives recognized this and encourage our members to continue to tell Congress that you oppose a massive tax increase on business travelers.”

CONTACT: Colleen Lerro Gallagher, +1 703-236-1133, cgallagher@gbta.org

About the Global Business Travel Association
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier 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 world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts. To learn how business travel drives lasting business growth, gbta.org