FAA shutdown is a windfall for airlines

Bloomberg:

U.S. airlines led by United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) may pocket $1.3 billion in higher fares tied to the Federal Aviation Administration’s partial shutdown as Congress deadlocks on the agency’s funding.

The FAA already has been unable to collect $28.6 million a day in aviation taxes since midnight on July 22. Missed receipts may climb by $1 billion more until lawmakers reconvene in September, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said yesterday.

The largest U.S. carriers, including United, Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV), stand to reap that much new revenue after raising fares to mirror the suspended taxes and keeping the difference, said Rick Seaney, chief executive officer of Dallas-based ticket researcher FareCompare.com.

“This is manna from heaven, and a real windfall for the airlines,” Seaney said in an interview. “I don’t expect them to drop the fare increases. Why would they? Total ticket prices are the same and it doesn’t seem to be hurting bookings.”

And why should they lower fares? They basically have a monopoly on travel, it's not like I have another way to get from DC to Chicago, so why shouldn't Delta, United and American screw me, and you? They already do what can only be described as the best impression ever of price fixing, where all of their fares magically are exactly the same, to the same penny! But don't accuse them of doing anything illegal, because they all give Congress lots of money, and Congress doesn't like it when come after their friends.