or save it for the Aviation and Airway Trust Fund.
They are saying exactly what I have been saying from the beginning. If taxes are such a burden on the American consumer and is depressing demand, why aren't the airlines on the side of the consumer in this tax holiday? Because they are unethical, two-faced liars.
Both sides of the aisle agree on this issue according to the article with John Mica and Ray LaHood weighing in as well. Sounds like they will find a way to recoup this money in whatever legislation they do pass for the FAA if the airlines continue to pocket the money.
Congress to airlines: Pass along savings to passengers or trust fund - CNN.com
"As we have heard from airlines for many years, these fees, all of which are passed on to the consumer, depress the demand for air travel, hurting the industry's bottom line. We are left to conclude that your previous assertions were incorrect about the impact of taxes and fees on the industry," Sens. John D. Rockefeller IV, D-West Virginia; and Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, wrote in a letter to Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson, chairman of the board of the Air Transport Association, an industry group.
Rockefeller and Cantwell urged the airlines to "put all of the profits that they are making" from the tax lapse into an escrow account so they can transfer it to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) when Congress reinstates the taxes.
"If the industry is unwilling to protect the integrity of the AATF, at a minimum, it should pass the savings onto the consumers," the senators said.