GSA's City Pairs Airline Contracts To Save Nearly $3B in 2002
GSA # 9850
July 11, 2001
Contact: Deborah K. Ruiz, (202) 501-1231
deborah.ruiz@gsa.gov
WASHINGTON, DC - In a move expected to save the federal government billions of dollars in the next year, the U.S. General Services Administration today announced the winners of its City Pairs airline contracts which will provide heavily discounted airfares for over 4,900 routes.
GSA recently negotiated rates with 14 U.S. airlines for official government travelers on 4,269 domestic and 686 international routes. In addition, the City Pairs contracts will continue to make hassle-free tickets available to federal travelers at over 70% less than unrestricted coach fares offered to the general public.
Each year, GSA's Federal Supply Service awards contracts for air transportation for official government travel under the City Pairs program. The contracts are competitively awarded, based on the best overall value to the government. Average flight time, offered price, and the type, distribution, and number of flights are all considered in determining the best value.
This year ushers in a dual fare test (capacity controlled and unrestricted) in 337 markets. 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. However, unrestricted contract fares will continue to be available to the government in these 337 markets.
GSA's City Pairs give customers several other advantages over commercial fares:
No advance purchase is required.
No minimum or maximum length of stay is required.
The tickets are fully refundable. There is no charge for cancellations or for schedule changes.
The seats are not capacity-controlled. As long as there is a coach class seat available on the plane, it can be purchased at the contracted fare.
There are no blackout periods.
The unrestricted fare price will not change throughout the length of the contract, enabling agencies to better plan their travel budgets.
The contract awards and prices are effective October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002.
Under the City Pairs contract rates, a non-stop, one-way ticket to Ronald Reagan Washington National airport from New York LaGuardia will cost $37; from Boston, $66; and from Los Angeles, $140. Discounts are generally greater in larger markets.
In the evaluation criteria this year, considerable weight was again given to customers' strong preference for non-stop service. Non-stop service was awarded in 1,689 markets - 91 more markets with non-stop service than were awarded last year.
Awards were made to the following airlines:
Carrier City Pairs Estimated $ Value
Delta Airlines 894 $274,770,787
United Airlines 1,104 $274,640,918
American Airlines 883 $201,963,874
US Airways 673 $177,025,892
Northwest Airlines 358 $ 79,624,151
Continental Airlines 133 $ 37,006,734
Southwest Airlines 282 $ 29,675,262
America West Airlines 240 $ 28,685,446
Alaska Airlines 92 $ 24,084,274
TransWorld Airlines LLC 92 $ 10,126,227
Midwest Express 49 $ 9,880,948
Midway Airlines 117 $ 9,216,679
AirTran Airways 24 $ 4,295,970
American Trans Air 14 $ 1,930,705
TOTALS 4,955 $1,162,927,867
GSA is a centralized federal procurement and property agency responsible for providing office space, supplies and services for the federal government. GSA operates and manages 1,800 government-owned buildings and 6,500 leased buildings while playing a key role in procuring and managing the government's massive inventory of computer and telecommunications equipment and services.
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 military and civilian workforce solutions.
