Denial of Claim for Cost of Air Fare Involving Foreign Air Carrier

A civilian employee of the Department of the Navy appealed a Claims Group decision which denied his claim for reimbursement of the cost of air fare to and from his temporary duty location. Reimbursement was denied because the employee purchased his ticket from a travel agent and because of the restrictions on the use of foreign air carriers imposed by the Fly America Act. The employee contended that the flight by a foreign air carrier to the temporary duty location was necessary because he had to be at that location by early Monday morning, and no American carrier in his area had weekend flights. The Navy supported this contention. Since a determination that an American air carrier cannot meet its transportation requirements is properly within the province of the agency involved, GAO would not question that determination. Therefore, the outbound portion of the trip did not violate the Fly America Act. However, the return portion of the trip did not depend upon any time constraints and could have been made on an American air carrier. Thus, the employee did violate the Fly America Act for the use of a foreign carrier for his return trip and must be assessed a penalty in accordance with the prescribed formula. Further, the agency recommends payment of the fares even though a travel agent was used based on the fact that the employee was given authorization to purchase his own ticket, but was not aware of the prohibition against the use of travel agents. Under these circumstances, GAO has held that an employee may be reimbursed an amount not exceeding the cost of transportation if the fare had been purchased directly from the carrier. Accordingly, the claim may be approved for payment, less the penalty assessed on the return trip.