Voluntary Payment to Employee for Vacating Seat on Overbooked Airplane

The Assistant Comptroller of the Army asked whether an Army employee could retain a payment he received from an airline for voluntarily giving up his reserved seat on an overbooked flight. The employee accepted an airline's offer of payment for giving up his seat and taking a later flight. He received the payment and a redemption certificate made out to the U.S. Government. The Army determined that the employee was not entitled to the payment and deducted it from his paycheck. The employee contended that he had saved the Government the cost of the ticket by leaving the plane and that the payment was for the hardship he incurred by leaving the plane. Regulations state that penalty payments made by air carriers for failure to furnish accommodations for confirmed, reserved space are due to the Government. GAO held that voluntary payments were distinguishable from denied boarding compensation and could be retained subject to the following conditions: (1) if the employee incurs additional travel expenses by voluntarily relinquishing his seat, those expenses must be offset against the payment received; (2) an employee should not give up his seat when doing so interferes with the performance of his official duties; and (3) if the delay occurs during official duty hours, the employee would be charged annual leave for the additional hours. Accordingly, GAO held that the employee could retain the payment.