Travel Expense Claim

A decision was requested as to whether an employee may be reimbursed for a penalty assessed for the use of a foreign air carrier in violation of the Fly America Act. Travel for the employee in question was originally scheduled using U.S. air carriers to the maximum extent possible. The claimant was authorized to perform travel abroad on official business; however, after the meeting dates had been arranged, the employee discovered that his daughter's high school graduation was scheduled for the afternoon on which he was to begin travel, and he asked that the travel be rescheduled so that he could attend the ceremony. The authorizing official informed him that the travel would be rescheduled as requested, but that he would be assessed a penalty for the use of a foreign air carrier for personal convenience. The employee contended that he was not available to begin travel until after his daughter's graduation ceremony, and this would have made it impossible for him to catch the U.S. carrier on which he had originally been scheduled. He questioned whether there was sufficient flexibility in the Fly America Act to allow exemptions for what are in effect once in a lifetime situations and if the penalty in this situation could be waived. GAO viewed the employee's attendance at his daughter's graduation as a matter of personal preference which did not justify a conclusion that the use of a U.S. carrier did not meet the needs of the agency's mission. Accordingly, GAO found that the agency correctly assessed a penalty for the employee's travel by a foreign air carrier and his request for a waiver was denied.