{
  "id": "R44749",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R44749",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 586791,
      "date": "2017-01-31",
      "retrieved": "2020-01-02T14:52:18.549225",
      "title": "The Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF): An Overview",
      "summary": "The Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF), sometimes referred to as the aviation trust fund, has been the primary funding source for federal aviation programs since 1972. It provides all funding for three major accounts of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA): the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), Facilities and Equipment (F&E), and Research, Engineering, and Development (RE&D). It also pays for most spending from FAA\u2019s Operations and Maintenance (O&M) account.\nThe trust fund is funded principally by a variety of taxes paid by users of the national aviation system. Revenue sources for the trust fund include taxes on airline passenger ticket sales, the flight segment tax, air cargo taxes, and aviation fuel taxes paid by both commercial and general aviation aircraft. In FY2016, the trust fund received revenues of over $14.4 billion in aviation taxes and fees. Between FY2012 and FY2016, the trust fund provided between 71% and 93% of FAA\u2019s total appropriations, with the remainder coming from the general fund of the U.S. Treasury.\nIn order to avoid disruptions, both the authority to collect aviation excise taxes and to spend from the trust fund must be reauthorized periodically by Congress. The latest such legislation, P.L. 114-190, reauthorized FAA, other civil aviation programs, and the collection of taxes to fund the AATF through FY2017. However, a full FY2017 appropriation has not been enacted. P.L. 114-254 extended funding of FAA programs and activities at the FY2016 annualized level of $16,281 million through April 28, 2017.\nThe balance in the aviation trust fund is projected to increase over the next few years. However, the AATF\u2019s long-term vitality remains subject to a variety of forces. Poor economic conditions or external events could curb demand for air travel, reducing revenue from the ticket taxes that are the main source of AATF funding. Changing airline business practices, particularly unbundling of ancillary fees for particular amenities from airfares, are adversely affecting AATF revenue, as only base airfares are subject to ticket taxes. The financial future of the trust fund also depends on future spending decisions, including FAA plans for substantial investment in the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) satellite-based air traffic control system.\nProposals to shift air traffic control services from FAA to a government-owned corporation with an independent board of directors, which are expected to reemerge, raise a number of issues regarding AATF revenues and expenditures. A version of such a proposal approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in 2016 would have allowed the corporation to impose user fees on some flights, principally commercial aviation. If user fees were to fund air traffic services, FAA would no longer require aviation tax revenues for this purpose. Congress might then consider options to restructure FAA\u2019s financing mechanisms, such as lowering the aviation taxes that flow into the AATF or eliminating the general fund component of FAA funding.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4766,
          "name": "Aviation"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4867,
          "name": "Transportation Funding"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4897,
          "name": "Transportation & HUD Appropriations"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4936,
          "name": "Excise & Other Taxes"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Appropriations",
    "Transportation Policy"
  ]
}