Office of Government-wide Policy Evolution & Application of Federal Travel Regulations (Fly America Act Open Skies) Rick Miller Deputy Director - Travel and Relocation Policy Office of Asset and Transportation Management Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP) General Services Administration (GSA) t

2 Briefing Topics  Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP)  GSA Authority – Statutory / Regulatory law  Federal Awards - Authority  Fly America Act – Authority / Exceptions  Open Skies Agreements

Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP) Travel and Relocation Policy Office 3

4 GSA Authority  United States Code (U.S.C.)  Title 5, Government Organization and Employees  Chapter 57 – Travel, Transportation and Subsistence  §5707 & § “The Administrator of General Services shall prescribe regulations necessary for the administration of this subchapter …”  Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)  Contains the rules and regulations of Federal agencies in a codified format similar to the U.S. Code, which codifies laws enacted by Congress – 50 Titles  41 CFR – Public Contracts and Property Management  Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) Chapters

5 FTR Authority  The FTR implements statutory requirements and Executive branch policies for travel by Federal civilian employees and others authorized to travel at Government expense  FTR is a “legislative rule” – a regulation issued under express authority from Congress, for the purpose of affecting individual rights and obligations by filling gaps left by a statute  Has controlling weight -- the force of law -- unless the provision in question is arbitrary, capricious, or manifestly contrary to statute. Any agency policy which is inconsistent with an FTR provision is consequently trumped by the FTR

Federal Awards Authority 6

7 Federal Awards - Authority  2 CFR Chapter 1, II, parts 200, 215, 220, 225, and 230 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards  Federal Register – December  Supersedes and streamline requirements from OMB Circulars A-21, A-87, A-110, and A-122, Circulars A-50 A- 89, A-102, A-133  § Travel costs

Fly America Act Authority / Exceptions 8

What is the Fly America Act?  The Fly America Act (49 U.S.C ) is applicable to all travel funded by United States federal government funds and requires the use of "U.S. flag" airlines (not to be confused with flag carriers) with a few exceptions. These individuals include U.S. federal government employees, their dependents, consultants, contractors, grantees, and others.  The Fly America Act is incorporated into the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and Federal Travel Regulation (FTR)  Applies to anyone traveling using US Federal funding, even non- U.S. nationals and non-U.S. companies or their representatives both within and outside the United States 9 YOU MUST USE A US FLAG CARRIER, UNLESS YOU MEET AN EXCEPTION …

10 Fly America Exceptions TRAVEL TO AND FROM THE US  Using a US Flag Carrier would extend travel time, including delays at origin, by 24 hours or more.  If a U.S.-flag air carrier does not offer nonstop or direct service from your origin to your destination, you must use U.S.-flag air carrier service on every portion of the route that it provides service, unless such use would:  Increase the number of aircraft changes you must make outside of the U.S. by 2 or more; or  Extend your travel time by at least 6 hours or more; or  Require a connecting time of 4 hours or more at an overseas interchange point. TRAVEL BETWEEN 2 SPOTS OUTSIDE THE US:  U.S. flag carrier for such travel, if available, unless when compared to using a foreign air carrier, such use would:  Increase the number of aircraft changes you must make en-route by 2 or more; or  Extend your travel time by 6 hours or more; or  Require a connecting time of 4 hours or more at an overseas interchange point.

11 Liability  Cost factor – Foreign ticket is less than U.S. flag air carrier  May not be used solely based on the cost of ticket  Convenient – agency/traveler  Must use U.S. flag air carrier service, unless traveler meets one of the exceptions or a matter of necessity  Certification / Documentation  Detailed itinerary of travel to include; dates, origin and destination, air carrier, exceptions as listed in the FTR  Liability  No reimbursement for “any” transportation cost for which an traveler improperly use of foreign flag carrier service

Fly America Act Code Share 12

Code Share What is a Code Share flight? The traveler is considered to be on a Code Share flight if he/she purchases a ticket from one carrier but flies on the aircraft carrier of another airline. This would be a ticket that is issued by a U.S. Air Carrier that states “U.S. Air Carrier flight XXXX operated by Foreign Air Carrier”. There may be a list of code share partners on the U.S. Air Carrier website, however, not all flights on the partner airlines are operated under a code share agreement. Only flights booked properly though the code share are allowable. Example: Allowable: AA 1234 operated by QF 4321 Unallowable: QF 4321 operated by AA 1234 AA = American Airlines QF = Qantas Airways 13

Code Share How do I determine if a flight is a code share flight? Tickets/electronic receipts include the information necessary to determine if a flight is a qualifying code share. Tickets must be coded with the flight number of a U.S. carrier (e.g. UA, AA, DL). If you have questions before purchasing a ticket, you can contact the airline, which is required by law to answer questions related to code share flights. 14

Fly America Act Open Skies Agreements 15

16 Open Skies Agreement  Open Skies Agreement  Current agreements:  U.S. & Australia  U.S. & Switzerland  U.S. & Japan  U.S. & European Union  Does not apply to transportation obtained or funded by the Secretary of Defense / the Secretary of a military department

What do the Open Skies Agreements Mean to you?  Australia  Travelers using federal funds can use an Australian airline only if a point of origin/destination is either the US or Australia and there is no city-pair contract flights between the two points (origin and destination).  Switzerland  Travelers using federal funds can use a Swiss airline only if a point of origin/destination is either the US or Switzerland and there is no city-pair contract flights between the two points (origin and destination).  Japan  Travelers using federal funds can use a Japanese airline only if a point of origin/destination is either the US or Japan and there is no city-pair contract flights between the two points (origin and destination).  European Union  Travelers using federal funds can use a EU airline between any point in the US to any point in EU, or any non-EU country if the flight lands in a EU country 17

18 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Open Skies Agreement (Australian/Switzerland/Japan)  Contractors and grantees are not eligible to use City-Pair contract is irrelevant under these Open Skies  U.S. government funds - Transportation is between points for which there is a city-pair contract fare in effect - still required to use U.S. flag air carrier service – unless other FTR exceptions are authorized

19 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Example 1 – (U.S. & Switzerland)  Authorized travel from Philadelphia, PA to Geneva, Switzerland  No city-pair contract from origin to destination  City-pairs from Philadelphia, PA to New York City & New York City, to Geneva, Switzerland – are irrelevant  May fly U.S. Flag carrier or Switzerland flag carrier  Exceptions – Foreign flag carrier IAW FTR

20 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Example 2 – (U.S. & Switzerland)  Authorized travel from Washington, DC to Geneva, Switzerland  City-pair contract from origin to destination  Federal Employee must use City-pair contract U.S. Flag carrier - exceptions  Contractor/Grantees must fly U.S. Flag carrier  Exceptions – Foreign flag carrier IAW FTR

21 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Example 3 – (U.S. & Australia)  Authorized travel from Philadelphia, PA to Melbourne, Australia  No city-pair contract from origin to destination  City-pair from Philadelphia, PA to Los Angeles, CA & Los Angeles, CA to Melbourne, Australia – are irrelevant  May fly U.S. Flag carrier or Australia flag carrier  Exceptions – Foreign flag carrier IAW FTR

22 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Example 4 – (U.S. & Australia)  Authorized travel from Washington, DC to Sydney, Australia  City-pair contract from origin to destination  Federal Employee must use City-pair contract U.S. Flag carrier - exceptions  Contractor/Grantees must fly U.S. Flag carrier  Exceptions – Foreign flag carrier IAW FTR

23 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Example 5 – (U.S. & Japan)  Authorized travel from Philadelphia, PA to Osaka, Japan  No city-pair contract from origin to destination  City-pair from Philadelphia, PA to Washington, DC & Washington, DC to Osaka, Japan – are irrelevant  May fly U.S. Flag carrier or Japan flag carrier  Exceptions – Foreign flag carrier IAW FTR

24 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Example 6 – (U.S. & Japan)  Authorized travel from Washington, DC to Tokyo, Japan  City-pair contract from origin to destination  Federal Employee must use City-pair contract U.S. Flag carrier - exceptions  Contractor/Grantees must fly U.S. Flag carrier  Exceptions – Foreign flag carrier IAW FTR

25 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Open Skies Agreement (European Union – 29 countries) APRIL 2007: AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, BULGARIA, CYPRUS, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, ESTONIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE HUNGARY, IRELAND, ITALY LATVIA, LITHUANIA, LUXEMBOURG, MALTA, NETHERLANDS, POLAND, PORTUGAL ROMANIA, SLOVAKIA SLOVENIA, SPAIN, SWEDEN THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND JUNE 2011: ICELAND NORWAY

26 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Examples (U.S. & EU)  A point in the European Union to a point in the U.S. Example: Frankfurt to Washington DC  A point in the U.S. to a point in the European Union Example: Washington DC to Paris  A point in the European Union to a point in the U.S. to a further point in a foreign country Example: Dublin to Chicago to Vancouver

27 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Examples (U.S. & EU) (cont)  A point in a foreign country to a point in the U.S. to a further point in the European Union Example: Mexico City to Miami to Madrid  A point in the U.S. to a point in a foreign country to a further point in the European Union Example: Cleveland to Montreal to Barcelona

28 Open Skies Agreement - cont  Examples (U.S. & EU) (cont)  A point in the European Union to a point in a foreign country to a further point in the U.S. Example: Vienna to Toronto to Washington, DC  A point in a foreign country to a point in the European Union to a further point in the U.S. Example: Istanbul to Amsterdam to Washington, DC  A point in the U.S. to a point in the European Union to a further point in a foreign country Example: Washington, DC to London to Moscow

29 Web Sites / Contacts  Web site  FTR - (section through )  FAR - (Subpart 47.4)  City-pair awards -  Per diem - gsa.gov/perdiem