WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today urged the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to reexamine the proposed temporary security fees on intrastate aviation travel.  TSA has proposed a temporary security fee on commercial intrastate and interstate flight segments. 

Senator Stevens said he was concerned about the burden that would be placed on rural Americans, like Alaskans, who use air travel as their primary means of transportation.   Stevens questioned Edmund Hawley, Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security at TSA, about these proposed temporary aviation surcharges during the Committee’s oversight hearing. 

Below are excerpts of the hearing:

Senator Stevens: First, Mr. Hawley, I’ve said many times from when you’re here before us, that in our state 70 percent of our cities are reached only by air.  We fly probably 10 to 15times the amount of any Americans.  And yet, I find that there’s no recognition of this in this plan.  Alaskans are dependent upon air travel as their primary means of transportation, and are being forced to pay this surcharge every time they take off.  Air travelers are the only ones who pay for security in this country.  Now why should we continue to increase the surcharge on people who fly everyday in our state when in any other state they would be getting on a commuter train, or getting on a bus, or getting in a taxi and pay no cost at all for their security?  Why do you continue this?

Secretary Hawley: I appreciate the point.  The reason is to try to accelerate the deployment of these systems.

Sen. Stevens:  But why don’t you exempt some of the small areas?  Small hub airports are very busy little airports, but they’re primarily serving just the local area. Commuters come in from various places, into places like Bethel. Then once you get to Bethel you wait until the next day to get on a plane to go to Anchorage.  And then you wait in Anchorage for the next day for a plane to go to Seattle.  Now, I don’t see any other state that really uses air transportation the way we do, but your regulations don’t recognize that difference for Alaska.  Why? 

Secretary Hawley: It’s a large scale fee tool, and I suppose in the drafting of the legislation to enact it, it would be possible to reflect some of the things you’re talking about.

Sen. Stevens:  You don’t have to charge the same thing at hub airports that you charge at large airports.  You don’t have to charge the same thing for intrastate as you do interstate passengers.  At least intrastate versus interstate would make a great deal of difference to us.  But why do you insist intrastate passengers pay the same cost? As I said, some of our people fly two and three times a day just to get to either Anchorage or Fairbanks.  I don’t know why we have to pay intrastate surcharges for things we’re not going to get at all.  As a matter of fact, you do not even plan this solution for small airports at all. 

Secretary Hawley:  So, we’d be happy to work with the committee staff.  Frankly, as we looked at it, it was trying to fill a budget hole and how we can with simplicity and certainty, raise the money that we need to fill it.  We’d be happy to work with the committee on this.

Sen. Stevens:   Well, I hope you would because there are probably 10,000 to 15,000 people in my state who are flying more than any other Americans, but they’re flying within our own state.  And I don’t see any reason why we should be paying for security for Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.  And yet, that’s what we’re doing.  We’re paying more per capita than anyone and yet, there are fewer of us paying in.  I would hope you would take a good look at it.

Full audio can be found here.