Congress has failed to re-authorize the working budget of the FAA. This implies as of Monday, the FAA is operating only on a skeleton crew. The biggest thing most vacationers were looking towards was a tax vacation. When the power expired, however, airlines hiked their costs. This implies most air travelers will not see any price drop. Frequent fliers may still need installment loans to get anywhere.

No more FAA

There was an enormous congressional showdown on Monday about federal government funding. This means the Federal Aviation Administration is no longer authorized to operate. There has been a debate over union rights which have held up the bill to continue the operating authorities. About 4,000 "non-essential" employees have now been furloughed without pay while 87,000 construction workers have lost work with the several FAA-funded projects which were stopped, although air traffic controllers are still going to work. This shutdown also means the Federal Aviation Administration no longer has authority to collect the 7.5 percent ticket tax, $3.70 takeoff tax and security fees. About $200 million a week will be lost in the uncollected fees, as reported by the Transportation Department.

What exactly are the airlines doing?

Many of the flight companies are excited. The airline tax vacation has been good for them. As of Monday morning, Spirit Air carriers had committed to passing the tax holidays on to consumers. Much of the airlines increased costs between $25 and $60 that was already being charged by the government. There as only an $8 increase at Southwest Air and AirTran. Estimates say the air carriers will rake in an additional $10 million to $28 million every day. Since the end price is the same, consumers might not even notice; the money is not going to the government.

Not much of a change

Most changes will not be noticed by the FAA. Customers most likely won't see it at all. Operation of Air Travel will continue. Also, air traffic controllers and the Transportation Security Administration will operate still. Dependent upon where you plan on flying, you may be able to get slightly less expensive seats on certain flight companies. You might end up flying between now and when the Federal Aviation Administration begins operations again. If this is the lawsuit, you can get a refund on taxes already paid. You need to make sure you have all your receipts on hand just in case although the Transportation Department hasn't released refund guidelines.

Information from

Wall Street Journal, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Boston.com, Daily Kos