President Bush Seeks Hike in Airline Passenger Fees. Band News for Travel Industry

President Bush has asked Congress to increase the fees that airline passengers have to pay to pay for some of the hike in spending on his homeland security, one of the few agencies that would be spared an overall spending cut in 2006.

A tax on travelers is a tax on airlines, complained James C. May, president and chief executive officer of the Air Transport Association. Travelers will feel the burden as any new tax or fee raises ticket prices and the cost of airlines doing business, he denounced.

Bush is asking Congress for 34.2 billion dollars in discretionary funding — a 6.8% increase from current levels — for Homeland Security on top of $6.7 billion required by law.