An Airfare Tax Holiday Too?

If the federal government really wants to help out air travelers who are feeling the sting of the highest airline tickets in more than a decade, then why not rescind the bulk of those federal taxes on domestic airline tickets?

Crazy you say?

In the summer of 2003 the federal government rescinded the $10 connecting roundtrip TSA Sept .11 security fee for the summer. The reason? It was part of the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act.

And in September President Bush had to sign a bill at the last second to keep the bulk of the federal taxes on airline tickets from expiring at the end of September 2007.

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The argument for not rescinding the automobile gasoline tax is that people will use more gas and subsequently drive prices up -- effectively negating any tax relief. Planes, however, are going to be in the air with the same amount of fuel whether these air travel fees are rescinded or not, so that debate would be moot.

Legislators should seriously consider temporarily suspending some if not all of these fees until we can get fuel prices back to where they "should be." (Sixty dollars a barrel is what many industry analysts say is "fair.")

Maybe then airlines will cut out all this "nickel-and-dimeing" of passengers with additional fee charges at every step in the process of air travel, including purchasing a ticket, changing that ticket, checking in bags, sitting on the aisle and bringing your pet.

Wishful thinking probably, as this bell has already been rung -- even if we slide back to $60-per-barrel oil.

This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.

Rick Seaney is one of the country's leading experts on airfare, giving interviews and analysis to news organizations, including ABC News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Associated Press and Bloomberg. His Web site FareCompare.com offers consumers free, new-generation software combined with expert insider tips to find the best airline ticket deal.