Starting Monday, air travelers will pay more when they fly. But the money won't necessarily go to improve airport security.
The government is hiking the mandatory security fee put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to fund the Transportation Security Administration. The fee originally had been pegged at $2.50 per leg of a connecting flight, capped at $5 per one-way trip. The new fee will be a flat $5.60 per one-way trip — that is, if you take direct flights or have layovers on domestic flights no longer than four hours.
But some travelers may end up paying a higher fee — as much as four times that amount — because the definition of a one-way trip has been altered and the fees are no longer capped.
Although the fee increase goes into effect Monday, the TSA is accepting public comment through Aug. 19 at regulations.gov.
