....I concur, the Taxes and the fact of the Aviation Budget surplus is ridiculous... But if you think the US has a lot of tax on tickets, just book a flight to Mexico and see how much you pay for Taxes and Junk Fees! :) About 1/3 of your ticket price! Bryant Petitt Cumming, GA --- David Ross <damiross@earthlink.net> wrote: > Another absurdity. Whatever happened to the large > surplus from the many > other aviation taxes? The airline industry is right > up there with the > telephone industry in the amount of taxes being > charged. If you don't > believe be, go to Southwest's page > (www.southwester.com) and make a > reservations (you don't have to complete the > transaction, though). When you > get to the total fare page, look at how much of the > fare is actually taxes. > (For the telephone company, look at your last bill. > In my case, the bill > was about $20 - the actuall telephone company > charges was only about $15!) > > The charge mentioned below is, according to another > article, is charged once > for your originating flight and for each connecting > flight. Never mind that > you probably don't go through security again when > making a connection. > > David Ross > http://damiross.go.cc > http://home.earthlink.net/~damiross/airlines.html > http://home.earthlink.net/~damiross/books.html > > > DOT To Begin Charging Security Tax To Cover Costs > > > > The U.S. federal government next month plans to > begin charging a $2.50 fee > > to all air travelers to cover the government's > aviation security costs. > The > > new security fee was authorized in the Aviation > and Transportation > Security > > Act, which was signed into law on Nov. 19. DOT on > Monday issued an interim > > final rule that imposes the fee, beginning Feb. 1. > Under the rule, direct > > air carriers, both domestic and foreign, will be > responsible for > collecting > > the tax for passenger enplanements from U.S. > airports. The airlines would > > send the money to DOT's new Transportation > Security Administration. The > > agency plans to consider comments on this interim > final rule received in > the > > rulemaking docket through March 1. "The funds > raised through this > September > > 11 Security Fee will be used to implement new > aviation security measures," > > said Secretary Norman Mineta. According to the DOT > budget office, about > $900 > > million would be raised from the new tax in fiscal > year 2002. The money > will > > help pay for passenger and baggage screeners, > security managers and law > > enforcement staff at airports, as well as the > purchase of explosives > > detection systems. > > > > Copyright 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com