("UPDATE: Delta, Alaska Air To Process IRS Refunds After FAA Partial Shutdown," published at 6:15 p.m. EDT, incorrectly said Alaska Air said it would offer to process the refunds in the second paragraph and throughout. The correct version follows:) DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) said Monday it will process tax refunds for customers after Congress last month failed to renew the Federal Aviation Administration's operating authority, marking a reversal from the carrier's comments last week. Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman praised the airline in a statement for helping their customers. "The IRS is committed to working with Delta and other airlines to ensure they can provide a smooth refund process for their passengers," Shulman said. The unexpected lapse prompted the FAA to suspend nonessential services and stoked travelers' ire after some customers' ticket prices included federal taxes that won't be collected. The impasse was thought to be a boon for the airline industry, which initially wasn't required to remit federal ticket taxes during the partial shutdown of the FAA. J.P. Morgan analysts predicted airlines would pocket the revenue rather than pass the savings on to consumers, and predicted the daily benefit to the industry could be $25 million. Last week, Delta said the expiration was leading to $4 million to $5 million in additional daily revenue and it had no plans to change its ticket prices. Alaska Air Group Inc.'s (ALK) namesake separately said it wants to help make it easier for customers to get refunds but is still working on a process for handling them. A company spokeswoman said the airline is still reviewing whether its systems can handle such requests. In the meantime, the carrier said customers who traveled during the expired-tax period can request a refund from the IRS any time. The latest move from Delta and Alaska Air came after the IRS told travelers who paid for tickets on or before July 22 for later travel could be entitled to a refund. The airline said it will process the refunds directly to streamline the process once the IRS provides guidelines. The carriers stopped collecting a base 7.5% ticket-tax, $3.70 segment taxes and facilities taxes on international travel and travel to and from Alaska and Hawaii after the federal agency's revenue-raising authority ended July 23. Delta's shares closed at $7.80 Monday and were inactive after hours. Its stock has dropped 38% this year. Alaska Air's shares were recently off a penny at $60.06 after-hours but have gained 6% this year. -By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909; andrew.fitzgerald@dowjones.com
