Just to complicate things, there are conditions under which a foreign carrier can be used for federally funded research - if there is a bilateral or multilateral "open skies" agreement. NSF recently revised its General Grant Conditions to permit travel on Open Skies agreement community carriers. This option should be available under other federal awards but it would be wise to check with the funding agency before purchasing a ticket. I've copied the NSF section (GC1, Section 10.d.1 for your information. It has a link to the GSA Office of Travel website that explains the Open Skies agreement. There are limitations to the use of foreign air carriers and you should review the General Services Administration's (GSA) Travel website to determine if an Airline Agreement exists and to check the city-pairs agreements before booking a flight. The Airfare City-Pair Program is a key limitation on federally funded travelers using foreign carriers under the Open Skies Agreements. If the federal government has a city-pair agreement for airfares, travelers can not use a foreign carriers under Open Skies. Unfortunately, non-federal employees can not make use of the city-pair agreement to book travel either; it simply serves to limit when a foreign carrier can be used by non-federal employees. Thus, before booking a flight with a non-US carrier under the European Union, Australia or Switzerland Open Skies Agreement, travelers must check the city-pair program (search access is available from the GSA homepage, under Travel Resources). If a city-pair agreement exists, the existing Fly America regulations prevail. If a city-pair agreement does not exist, travelers can book flights with foreign carriers covered by Open Skies. For example, there is no city-pair agreement between Washington, DC and Paris, France. A traveler from Washington DC could consider flights on Air France. Good luck. Carol NSF General Grant Conditions: d. Use of Foreign-Flag Air Carriers There are limited circumstances under which use of a foreign-flag air carrier is permissible. These circumstances are outlined below: 1. Airline "Open Skies" Agreements: A foreign flag air carrier may be used if the transportation is provided under an air transportation agreement between the United States and a foreign government, which the Department of Transportation has determined meets the requirements of the Fly America Act. For example, in 2008, the U.S. entered into an "Open Skies" Agreement with the European Union. This Agreement gives European Community airlines (airlines of Member States) the right to transport passengers and cargo on flights funded by the U.S. government, when the transportation is between a point in the United States and any point in a Member State or between any two points outside the United States. In accordance with the Agreement, however, a U.S.-flag air carrier must be used if: (a) transportation is between points for which there is a city-pair contract fare in effect for air passenger transportation services; or (b) transportation is obtained or funded by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a Military Department. The conditions for use of a Member State airline apply to non-Federal employees as well (e.g., grantees). So, even though grantees are ineligible for city-pair contract fares, they must still use a U.S.-flag air carrier if a city-pair contract fare exists. For information on other "open skies" agreements in which the United States has entered, please refer to GSA's website: http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_BASIC&co ntentId=24833&noc=T -----Original Message----- From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org] On Behalf Of Lori Hulak Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 5:28 PM To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org Subject: [RESADM-L] Fly America Act Good afternoon fellow RA's - Is there a federal regulation called the Fly America Act that requires travel charged to federal grants be done on an american carrier? I have received this email from a faculty member at my institution: "Our current program manager's assistant said that she'd never heard of such a requirement, and checked with someone else there who hadn't either. She gave us the name of a third person who should be the definitive word on the subject. This person is currently travelling on the West Coast so I am emailing her now." I would appreciate any and all feedback as soon as possible :) Lori Lori B. Hulak, BA, CRA Specialist, Grant Writer Jefferson College of Health Sciences 920 S. Jefferson Street Roanoke, VA 24031-3186 Phone (540) 985-8206 xxxxxx@jchs.edu ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================
