Travel on Government Aircraft

Government aircraft may only be used for official purposes, including supporting specific mission requirements (e.g. fire suppression, law enforcement) and for a few, very limited exceptions to support other official travel.  Aside from those very limited situations where an individual is required to use a Government aircraft for travel (explained below), agencies must ensure that travel on a Government aircraft is the most cost-effective way to meet the official travel requirement. The rules pertaining to travel on Government aircraft are found in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-126, Improving the Management and Use of Government Aircraft, revised May 1992.  The implementing regulations are found in the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR), 41 Code of Federal Regulations 301-10.260-266.

1.  Traveling on a Government aircraft.

As noted above, normally, Federal employees may only travel on Government aircraft for official purposes to meet the mission requirements of their agency.  The circumstances in which Federal employees may travel on Government aircraft are as follows: 

• Required Use.  An employee is a "required use" traveler if the President, or the head of your agency, has determined that the person's travel (including official, personal or political) qualifies as “required use” travel. Required use travel is defined as the use of a Government aircraft for the travel of an Executive Agency officer or employee, where the use of the Government aircraft is required because of bona fide communications or security needs of the agency, or to meet exceptional scheduling requirements. If an employee is required to use Government aircraft for travel, the employee must reimburse the Government the full coach fare for any personal or political trips. Similarly, if the employee is on a trip that is for official business and makes any changes to that trip for personal reasons, or to engage in political activities, the employee must reimburse the Government (at the full coach fare rate) for the non-official portion of the trip.
• Schedule/Cost.  Employees who are not "required use" travelers, may use Government aircraft for official travel when (a) no commercial airline or aircraft service is reasonably available to meet the departure and/or arrival requirements within a 24-hour period (or less when you have demonstrated that extraordinary circumstances require a shorter period), or (b) the actual cost of using a Government aircraft is not more than the cost of using commercial airlines or aircraft service, including charter services. The Government shall not incur any increase in the actual cost to operate the aircraft for any incidental non-official activities (personal or political) that an employee engages in during his own time while on official travel.  The employee must reimburse the Government for those costs in the amount required by law or regulation if greater than the excess amount of the full coach fare, when an employee engages in non-official activities, while on official travel using Government aircraft, which increase the Government's cost to operate the aircraft.
• Space Available.  Employees who are not "required use" travelers may travel on Government aircraft for personal, non-official travel when an aircraft is already scheduled for an official purpose and the "space available" travel does not necessitate a larger aircraft than is needed for the official purpose, or results in only minor additional cost to the Government. In addition, Federal travelers or the dependents of a federal traveler stationed by the government in a remote location not accessible to scheduled commercial airline service and travelers authorized under 10 U.S.C. §2648, et seq. may travel on a government aircraft when there is sufficient excess capacity to accommodate the "space available" traveler.  Full coach fare must be reimbursed to the Government except as authorized under 10 U.S.C. §2648, et seq. and in the case where civilian personnel and their dependents are in remote locations.

2.  What approval is necessary to use a Government aircraft?
Only the President, or head of the agency or his/her designated official, may approve the use of Government aircraft for official travel.  Employees must obtain advance, written authorization to travel on Government aircraft. In emergency situations, the employee may travel on the "verbal authorization" of the appropriate agency official, but must ensure that such authorization is documented after the trip is completed.

• Required use travel must be approved on a trip-by-trip basis by the agency’s senior legal official or his/her principal deputy, unless:  (1) the President has determined that all travel, or travel in specific categories, by the agency head qualifies as required use travel, or (2) the agency head has determined that all travel, or travel in specific categories, by the employee qualifies as required use travel.  Any determination by an agency head that travel by an officer or employee of that agency qualifies as required use travel must be in writing and set forth the basis for that determination. An agency head opting to determine that travel by an officer or employee may be required use travel shall establish written standards for determining when required use travel is permitted. Such travel is not permitted unless in conformance with such written standards.
• Senior Federal officials must obtain advance, written authorization from their agency’s senior legal official or his/her principal deputy for each trip on a Government aircraft.  If you are a crewmember or qualified non-crewmember being transported from point-to-point, you are considered a traveler and must be authorized to travel on a Government aircraft.
• Federal travelers must obtain advance, written approval from the traveler’s designated travel-approving official.  Travel must be authorized by an individual who is at least one organizational level above the person(s) traveling.
• Non-Federal travelers must obtain advance, written authorization from the sponsoring agency’s senior legal official or his/her principal deputy for all travel on a Government aircraft.
• When a Government aircraft is used to fulfill an agency’s mission, and is also transporting senior Federal officials, members of their families or other non-Federal travelers on a “space available” basis (except as authorized under 10 U.S.C. §2648), the agency conducting the mission must certify in writing, prior to the flight, that the aircraft is scheduled to perform a bona fide mission, and that the minimum mission requirements have not been exceeded to transport “space available” travelers.

3.  What reporting is required when I use a Government aircraft?
Agencies that use Government aircraft shall report semi-annually to GSA each use of such aircraft for non-mission travel by senior Federal officials, members of the families of such officials, and any non-Federal travelers (except as authorized under 10 U.S.C. §2648 and regulations implementing that statute). The report shall include: (i) the name of each such traveler, (ii) the official purpose of the trip, (iii) destination(s), and (iv) for travel requiring reimbursement, the appropriate allocated share of the full operating cost of each trip and the corresponding commercial cost for the trip. In addition, agencies shall report a summary of these data to OMB semi-annually via the on-line Senior Federal Travel Report specified by GSA. (Reports on classified trips shall not be reported to GSA but must be maintained by the agency using the aircraft and available for review as authorized.)

4.  What documentation does my agency need to retain regarding the use of Government aircraft?

Agencies are required to maintain, for at least a period of two years, the following minimum information for each use of Government aircraft: 

• the tail number of the plane used
• the date(s) used 
• the name(s) of the pilot(s) and flight crew
• the purpose(s) of the flight
• the route(s) flown
• the names of all passengers

For more information, please contact Janet Dobbs at (202) 208-6601 or visit:  www.gsa.gov/aircraftpolicy.