The U.S. congressional delegation from Kansas last week appealed to House and Senate leaders to provide the general aviation community temporary relief from aviation fuel taxes. Congress previously suspended aviation excise taxes, including both the ticket and fuel taxes, for commercial aviation through the end of the year under the CARES Act, but fuel taxes remained in place for private aviation.

In a May 12 letter, though, both senators and all four House members representing Kansas urged leaders from both chambers on Capitol Hill to extend the tax suspension to private aviation as they weigh a fourth Covid-19 relief bill.

“Business aircraft operations are down more than 70 percent from early March and continuing to decline,” they said, citing FlightAware data. “This has drastically reduced business at the 138 public-use airports in Kansas, resulting in layoffs and closures.” They further estimated that some 10,000 aviation-manufacturing workers have been furloughed in Kansas as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While the lawmakers said they appreciated the positive impact the relief provided to air carriers and small businesses in the CARES Act has had, “most general and business aviation operations are non-commercial, and thus not eligible for this tax relief.” 

They specified that relief should extend to the 21.9 cents per gallon tax on jet fuel, 19.4 cents per gallon tax on aviation gasoline, and 14.1 cents per gallon surtax on fractional aircraft operations. “Relief from the non-commercial fuel taxes would incentivize operators to preserve jobs and resume flying once we begin to emerge from this crisis,” they said. “This relief would also help small community general aviation airports in Kansas and across the nation that will be instrumental in incentivizing aviation activity as we begin to recover.”

The lawmakers underscored the importance of the business and general aviation industry, noting 40,000 Kansans are employed in the sector, and nationwide it supports 1.2 million jobs with $247 billion in economic impact. The lawmakers also praised the industry’s track record of providing humanitarian assistance.

While recognizing the challenges the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) already is facing from reduced flight operations, they added, “we believe the suspension of non-commercial aviation fuel taxes would provide much-needed relief and serve as a catalyst to help small general aviation businesses recover once the immediate crisis begins to recede. In the long run, this will benefit the aviation system, the AATF, and our entire economy.”

NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen welcomed the support from the delegation. “The temporary suspension of fuel taxes is a commonsense measure that will help many small businesses reduce their operating costs and provide support for employees as we continue to confront this very unique and challenging situation,” he said.

Signing the letter were Republican Sens. Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts, along with Reps. Sharice Davids (D), Ron Estes (R), Roger Marshall (R), and Steve Watkins (R).