You have it in your hand! A magical pass that let’s you transport yourself from one part of the country to another, or one country to a different continent in a matter of hours. Air travel is truly one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century.
Flying has never been cheap, but relatively speaking you get a pretty good deal today when compared to many decades ago. Of course, comfort and service aren’t what they used to be and one might argue, “you get what you pay for”.
Or do you? Do you have any idea how many fees and taxes there are in that plane ticket? You might be surprised. Of course it depends on what country you’re traveling in (eg. my country, Canada, has notoriously high fees and taxes that push a lot of Canadians to fly from lower priced US airports just across the border, especially if traveling with families).
But let’s look at the United States, the biggest air travel market. Much of the revenue collected from ticket taxes supports the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the primary source of funding for the FAA. The airline industry is one of the most heavily regulated in the United States and it takes a lot of cash to pay for all that bureaucracy. Here’s a breakdown of the most common taxes, fees and surcharges you can expect to see added to the price of your ticket:
• Domestic Passenger Ticket Tax: collected for FAA; 7.5% of ticket price
• Domestic Flight Segment Tax: collected for FAA; $4 per segment, defined as “a flight leg consisting of one takeoff and one landing by a flight”
• International Arrival Tax: collected for FAA; $17.70
• International Departure Tax: collected for FAA; $17.70
• September 11th Security Fee: collected for TSA; $5.60 one-way for flights departing the United States, but not to exceed $11.20 round-trip
• Passenger Facility Charge: collected for “commercial airports controlled by public agencies”; up to $4.50 per passenger
There can be other fees, and that doesn’t even begin to include indirect taxes, like that charged of your airline for the fuel propelling your plane, the components used to build your aircraft, etc.
If this topic interests you, I’d refer you to a detailed and good article by Bill McGee on USA Today, at this link.
