Airport and Airway Trust Fund: Financial Outlook Is Positive, but the Trust Fund's Balance Would Be Affected If Taxes Were Suspended.

General Accounting Office Reports & Testimony, October, 2003

GAO-03-979 September 15, 2003

The multibillion dollar Airport and Airway Trust Fund (Trust Fund) provides most of the funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Trust Fund relies on revenue from 10 taxes, including passenger ticket, fuel, and cargo taxes. Concerns about the financial outlook of the Trust Fund have emerged recently given the downturn in passenger air travel, requests from the airlines to suspend some of the Trust Fund taxes, and the need to reauthorize FAA's major programs in 2003. GAO was asked to determine (1) the projected financial outlook of the Trust Fund and (2) how a 1- year suspension of various taxes accruing to the Trust Fund (i.e., a tax holiday), would affect its financial status. We were asked to assess five potential tax...