Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday that a passenger fee could be considered as a way to provide steady funding for FAA system upgrades.
Speaking at a transportation safety conference hosted by American Airlines in Fort Worth, Texas, Duffy said the nation’s aviation infrastructure needs a better way to ensure ongoing support for long-term modernization efforts beyond periodic funding from Congress. He said a dedicated revenue stream could help fund major aviation infrastructure projects and keep systems from falling behind after the current round of upgrades.
“I would welcome an opportunity to think through how [we could] have a small fee that went into us, and I want us to continually upgrade our systems,” Duffy said, according to AirlineGeeks.
He compared the idea to the September 11 Security Fee, which is added to airline tickets and currently sits at $5.60 per one-way trip originating at a U.S. airport. Duffy did not provide a proposed amount, timeline or formal plan for a new fee, and any new passenger charge would likely require congressional approval.