The US administrative shutdown means that the FAA is no longer able to charge tax to the airlines, which means that tickets should be cheaper. Except that many airlines secretly raised their prices to match the with-tax price and obscured the fact. The senators in charge of the committee that oversees the FAA’s budget are furious and want the airlines to escrow their windfall and turn it over to the feds to fund aviation programs, or give it back to their customers. Not all airlines are dirty, Consumerist reports that Alaska Airlines is passing on the savings.
Senators scold airlines for raising fares