It's Time To Take Control Of Stopping the Madness

This past Monday saw my debut on FoxNews.com as a regular columnist covering travel.  In this week’s column,  I covered the new TSA fees and what it means to travelers. 

It’s a question I get asked regularly whether we are talking about airline fees, government fees or airfares in general.  The traveling public, and many of the anchors that interview me (hey Neil Cavuto!), are obsessed with the airlines and their practices.

In all cases, people want to know this: “When will the madness stop?”  It seems that there is no limit to what the airlines can do to raise fares on travelers.  Demand continues to grow while capacity is staying relatively flat.  That higher demand, against a static supply, is what is leading us ever higher.  The national government, along with local governments, view travelers as piggy banks that can be tapped to satisfy whatever whims they have.

For instance, the doubling of the security fee will raise billions, but the money won’t necessarily go to cover airline security.  Come again?  Our elected officials have decided to hit the travel industry, a massive economic engine that has driven parts of our so-called recovery higher, yet again. 

It’s no wonder we continue to see sluggish growth in our economy five years after our “summer of recovery.”  Those billions that are being raised by this extra tax on travel will now go to the “general fund” to help “reduce the deficit,” according to Congress. 

What will the travel industry learn from this?  Government has imposed what are known as “sin taxes” on items like cigarettes and alcohol.  The goal is to raise the cost of these items in order to have fewer people buy them.  In other words, the more you tax something the less you get of it. 

Applying that theory to travel, you have to wonder if having fewer people travel, by raising fees and taxes, is the goal of our elected officials.  To put it into perspective, the government fees associated with an average airline ticket exceed the taxes on cigarettes and alcohol today.  Is this any way to support an industry that has lead in job creation during many stretches over the past five years? 

Instead of hitting the traveling public with more and more taxes and fees, maybe it’s time the government simply cut spending.  The government spent 2.8 trillion dollars in 2007.  The government in 2014 will spend 3.8 trillion, a 36 percent increase, while most of the rest of us have had to cut back during that same time frame. 

Does the government truly need an additional one trillion dollars more to operate today versus seven years ago?  Do you spend 36 percent more today than you did back then?

Tens of millions of individuals make a living off the travel industry, either directly or indirectly.  That’s a lot of votes that brings with it the ability to drive real change.  The only question is will we, as an industry, get off our asses and do something about it?  We don’t need some organized effort put on by associations or lobbyists.  We simply need to go out and vote to make things right. 

Your industry, and your livelihood, could very well depend on it.  It starts by taking that step and leads us, one by one, to that place where we all #TravelForward. 

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