The U.S. Travel Association and Airlines for America may not always see eye to eye, but one thing both groups agree on is that revenue from airline passenger fees should not be used to prop up the federal Highway Trust Fund.

At issue is a proposal by House Republicans to take revenue from passenger fees collected for the Transportation Security Administration and instead use the money to patch up the Highway Trust Fund, which is set to go bust on July 31 unless it gets an infusion of new cash.

The plan failed to impress U.S. Travel CEO Roger Dow, who said his organization has always believed that user fees must benefit the users who pay for them.

"To say it's OK to use TSA fees for surface projects because it's all transportation is just too much of a stretch," he said.

No one disagrees that the highway fund needs a short-term fix absent a long-term solution to its financial woes, Dow said. "But robbing tomorrow's flyer to pay for today's driver does not a viable funding model make."

Joining in the criticism was A4A, which has clashed with U.S. Travel in the past over fees for airport improvements. However, the two groups were of like mind when it came to diverting TSA revenue for highways.

"It is disingenuous at best to take funds that airline passengers are paying, presumably for their safety and security, and use them to pay for highways," A4A CEO Nicholas Calio said. "This plan proposes to use tomorrow's dollars to pay for today's problem and do so on the backs of airline passengers who are being asked to fund everything from the national debt to the highways."

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