Travel Groups Applaud Omnibus Bill Despite Trump’s Threats to Veto

Despite United States President Donald Trump announcing Friday he would consider vetoing the $1.3 trillion spending bill approved by Congress, several travel advocates applauded the omnibus legislation.

On Thursday, representatives of Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Airlines for America (A4A) expressed their support for the bill after it rejected a proposal to increase the cap on passenger facility charges (PFC) from $4.50 to $8.50.

The PFC fees are currently capped at $4.50 per flight segment with a maximum of two PFCs charged on a one-way trip or four PFCs on a round trip, for a maximum of $18 total. If the proposal was accepted, the maximum would have jumped to $26.

The GBTA revealed the impact of the rejected PFC fee increase would have caused a reduction of $2.74 billion of airline tickets sold in the U.S., a decrease of $3.5 billion in gross domestic product and the possible loss of nearly 500,000 jobs.

“Congress has again recognized that such a large increase of the PFC is simply unwarranted,” GBTA COO Michael W. McCormick said in a statement. “Travel in general, and specifically business travel, is greatly impacted by increased taxes and fees. Rejecting this increase is a positive step towards continued business travel growth, which drives lasting economic growth.”

“This is a continuation of the promise Congress made to the American people three months ago when they passed historic tax cuts,” A4A CEO Nicholas E. Calio said in a statement. “We are particularly grateful to House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart, Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, and House and Senate Authorizing Committee Chairmen Bill Shuster and John Thune, for taking a stand to put passengers first by rejecting repeated calls from some in the airport community to saddle travelers with an unnecessary tax hike.”

Research from the GBTA found that for every one-percent change in business travel spending, the American economy gains or loses 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in GDP, $3.3 billion in wages and $1.3 billion in taxes.