The Hill News

The House and Senate are both making the long-overdue reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration a high priority. Unfortunately, the bills they are writing seem blissfully ignorant of the fiscal crisis facing the federal governmentâ€"a climate in which discretionary general fund spending is in for serious cutbacks.

Like most other federal transportation programs, aviation has traditionally been funded largely by user taxes, including the passenger ticket tax, fuel taxes on private planes, and a variety of other aviation excise taxes. These monies are accounted for in the Aviation Trust Fund, which is the source of capital spending on airports and air traffic control, as well as a large portion of the FAA’s operating budget (roughly corresponding to its air traffic control workforce). Traditionally, aviation user taxes brought in more than 80 percent of the FAA’s budget.

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