ATA Testimony by CEO Jim May before the Senaate Commerce Committee on Proposed FY2006 TSA Budget

Commercial aviation helps drive more than 10M American jobs and 5 cents of every dollar of U.S. GDP
Commercial aviation drives more than $1 trillion per year in economic activity
In 2012, U.S. airlines moved more than 48,000 tons of cargo per day
In 2012, the value of a kilogram of U.S. merchandise exported by air averaged 121 times the value exported by sea
For every 100 airline jobs, some 360 are supported outside of the airline industry
Federal taxes constitute $61 – or 20% – of the price of a typical $300 domestic round-trip ticket
In 2011, U.S. airlines carried 16 percent more passengers and cargo using 10 percent less fuel than in 2000
Domestically, airlines drive 5% of economic activity but account for 2% of man-made GHG emissions
From 2000-2011, airlines reduced GHG emissions by 11% while transporting 16% more passengers and cargo
From 1975-2011, U.S. airlines and their partners reduced significant noise exposure by 99%
Commercial air travel is the safest form of intercity transportation in the United States
In the most recent decade, scheduled air service on U.S. airlines was seven times safer than in the 1970s
From 2000-2012, U.S. airlines improved the on-time arrival rate from 72.6% to 81.9%
From 2000-2012, U.S. airlines reduced the flight cancellation rate sharply from 3.30% to 1.29%
Airfares are a bargain: From 2000-2012, U.S. CPI rose 33% while average domestic fare rose just 14%
Adjusted for inflation, the average round-trip domestic airfare fell 15% from 2000
2007 domestic flight delays cost the United States approximately $31 billion
In 2012, the value of U.S. merchandise exported by air reached an all-time high of $427B
In 2012, U.S. exports of air-travel services reached an all-time high of $39.5B, driving a $5.1B trade surplus
In 2012, U.S. passenger and cargo airlines spent more than $50B on fuel, averaging 36% of operating expenses
In 2012, U.S. airlines posted the lowest annual rate of mishandled baggage ever recorded
FAA projects U.S. air travel demand to top 1 billion passengers in 2027
In 2012, US airlines flew 83.4 million passengers in scheduled international service - a record high
In 2012, the total value of merchandise exported from or imported to the United States by air exceeded $927 billion
In 2012, 7.15 teragrams of merchandise was exported from or imported to the United States by air

	ATA Testimony by CEO Jim May before the Senaate Commerce Committee on Proposed FY2006 TSA Budget
	PubZone1 April 26, 2005 Mr. Chairman, at the outset I want to thank you and the members of this Committee – a clear majority – who have expressed opposition to the Administration’s increase of the September 11th Passenger Security Fee. This proposal has been scored by the CBO at $2 billion. Let me be clear, all carriers – low-cost, network and regional – will be harmed if this tax increase is approved. We appreciate your opposition. Perhaps what is most disappointing is that this tax is contrary to well established public policy that aviation security is a critical component of maintaining the national security of our country. A recent article penned by Co-Chairman Inouye published in The Hill brings home this point more than once. In his article, Senator Inouye observed: “We all recognized after Sept. 11 that transportation security is a matter of national security…It had to become a national-security function. The vote in Congress to make this fundamental change was 100-0 in the Senate and 410-9 in the House.” Co-Chairman Inouye goes on to note that “After reviewing the administration’s budget request for the DHS and TSA, it becomes clear that the airline-fee proposal is but one example of the administration’s failure to equate transportation security with national security.” In fact all Americans benefit from a secure aviation system, whether or not they fly or ship goods. In addition, the U.S. economy benefits broadly from a safe and vigorous air transportation system. For these reasons, the cost of aviation security should be borne just as broadly. No Justification Equally disturbing is TSA’s failure to demonstrate the need for this tax increase in the face of well-documented and continuing weak financial management. Neither the security nor the business case for the tax increase has been made. Consequently, airlines will be confronted with the worst of two worlds — a national security tax increase added to an already crushing $3.2B tax which holds no promise to enhance aviation security. Also troublesome is that TSA wants to raise taxes without improved managerial oversight of its activities. As the GAO has pointed out in recent reports, managerial improvement is indispensable if important programs that will benefit the public are to move from the drawing board to reality. We have all read the stories ¾ I need not repeat them here. At the same time, continuing problems with the no-fly and selectee lists make the headlines on a regular basis, and the effort to put into place a system to augment CAPPS I is beginning to look like the search for the Holy Grail. First it was CAPPS II, and then it was reborn as Secure Flight. But after some two years of effort, numerous missteps and an unknown amount of employee time and money, TSA has not moved past the testing phase. In addition, the testing phase of the Registered Traveler Program has made little sense, with five different systems unable to interface or lay the groundwork for a national system. Also not to be overlooked is the lack of coordination with the effort to test an international arrival passenger information system initiated by Customs and Border Protection, and the Advance Passenger Information System for passengers on inbound international flights. In short, DHS is undertaking a wide variety of important efforts that are simply not coordinated. What is the solution? Let me make two suggestions. First, to spend more wisely DHS needs the right plan and a strong management focus on coordination, and must establish an overall plan that identifies how the operations of each entity fits together without duplication and work on the basis of agreed upon data that can be collected by a single entity. Second, and most importantly the time has also come for TSA, supported by this Committee, to take a step back and develop an analytical, risk-based approach to guide how it spends its limited resources. This view was echoed by a task force on homeland defense chaired by The Heritage Foundation and The Center for Strategic and International Studies. The key recommendation from that report is to rationalize government spending by establishing a risk-based mechanism for DHS-wide resource allocation and grant making. The 9/11 Commission made a nearly identical recommendation on making hard choices in allocating precious resources. We agree. Conclusion In the post-9/11 world, the number of projects which no doubt would improve security by some degree is virtually unlimited. The challenge is to determine where to draw the line. In our view, three principles must guide the Congress and TSA: 1) establish once and forever that aviation security is a function of national security and should be paid for accordingly, and 2) make the hard choices using a risk-based mechanism in order to allocate resources more wisely, and 3) manage the homeland defense structure more effectively to realize the efficiencies anticipated by Congress when it created DHS. PubZone2	A4A advocates measures to support aviation safety, security and well-being.