Airlines to gain $1.3 billion in partial shutdown of FAA

Though the government is losing millions of dollars with the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. airlines will likely pocket $1.3 billion, Bloomberg News reports.

Since the shutdown on July 22, the FAA has been unable to collect $28.6 million a day in taxes and could miss out on $1 billion if a deal to end the shutdown isn't reached by September. Lawmakers left Washington this week for the August recess and aren't expected to return until after the Labor Day holiday weekend.

While Congress is stalling on a resolution, airline carriers stand to reap the benefits of the fight by raising fares to mirror the pre-shutdown ticket prices and keep the money that would have gone to taxes.

"This is manna from heaven, and a real windfall for the airlines," Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com, told Bloomberg. "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."

Delta and US Airways jacked up airline ticket prices following the partial shutdown. Both airlines recently announced they would refund ticket taxes collected prior to the July 22 shutdown for flights occurring during the shutdown. The airlines did not say they would refund customers who purchased tickets after July 22 for the inflated prices.

President Obama told reporters on Wednesday that Congress must stop playing "politics" and resolve the issue by the end of the week.