GSA # 9974

August 8, 2002
Contact: Deborah K. Ruiz, (202) 501-1231
deborah.ruiz@gsa.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a move expected to save the Federal government billions of dollars in the next fiscal year, the U.S. General Services Administration today announced the winners of its City Pair airline contracts, providing heavily discounted airfares for over 4,900 routes.

GSA recently negotiated rates with 14 U.S. airlines for official Federal government travelers on 4,359 domestic and 638 international routes. In addition, the City Pair contracts will continue to make hassle-free tickets available to Federal travelers at 72% less than unrestricted coach fares offered to the general public. "For fiscal year 2003, these contracts are expected to save the government more than $2 billion," said Donna Bennett, Commissioner of GSA's Federal Supply Service.

Each year, GSA's Federal Supply Service awards contracts for air transportation services for official government travel under the City Pair program. The contracts are competitively awarded, based on the best overall value to the Government. Average flight time, offered price, type of service, flight distribution, and numbers of flights are all considered in determining the best value.

This year the dual fare test (capacity controlled and unrestricted) was expanded to include considerably more markets than last year. Capacity controlled fares will be available on a first-come, first-served basis that will allow Government travelers to save additional dollars when they book tickets early. In addition, unrestricted contract fares will continue to be available to the government in all markets.

GSA's City Pair Program continues to give Federal travelers' several other advantages over commercial restricted coach fares. Some of the biggest advantages are fully refundable tickets, no charge for cancellations or for schedule changes, and no change in the unrestricted fare price throughout the length of the contract, enabling agencies to better plan their travel budgets.

The contract awards and prices are effective October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003.

Under the City Pair Program, two contract rates are awarded, an unrestricted fare and a capacity controlled fare. For example:

Controlled

New York LaGuardia/Reagan Washington National $ 34 not offered
Honolulu/San Diego $290 not offered
Atlanta/Baltimore $128 $ 98
Providence/Reagan Washington National $299 $229
Colorado Springs/Los Angeles $164 $144

Discounts are generally greater in larger markets.

In the evaluation criteria this year, considerable weight was given to customers' strong preference for non-stop service. Non-stop service was awarded in 1,732 markets.

Awards were made to the following airlines:

Carrier City Pair Estimated $ Value

Delta Air Lines 1,199 $ 257,109,162
American Airlines 1,130 $ 252,865,631
United Air Lines 765 $ 170,152,530
US Airways 576 $ 155,567,442
Northwest Airlines 418 $ 74,580,789
Southwest Airlines 324 $ 41,732,906
Alaska Airlines 110 $ 34,772,700
Continental Airlines 145 $ 32,627,546
America West Airlines 175 $ 22,730,687
Hawaiian Airlines 14 $ 11,256,430
Midwest Express Airlines 50 $ 11,232,073
Air Tran Airways 39 $ 5,616,192
Frontier Airlines 12 $ 4,630,041
American Trans Air 40 $ 2,303,685

TOTALS 4,997 $1,077,177,814

GSA is a centralized Federal procurement and property agency responsible for providing office space, supplies and services for the Federal government. Since its creation in 1949, the agency has evolved from a mandatory supplier of space and products for Federal civilian agencies to a non-mandatory provider of competitively priced, high-quality office space, commercial products and services, and military and civilian workforce solutions.