§ 301-10.134 Fly America Act requirements and exceptions.

Employees are required by 49 U.S.C. 40118, commonly referred to as the “Fly America Act,” to use U.S. flag air carrier service for all air travel funded by the U.S. Government except as provided in §§ 301-10.135 and 301-10.136 or when one of the following exceptions applies. Exceptions can only be approved by the agency head or designated official. (a) Use of a foreign air carrier is determined to be a matter of necessity in accordance with § 301-10.135. (b) The transportation is provided under a bilateral or multilateral air transportation agreement to which the U.S. Government and the government of a foreign country are parties and which the Department of Transportation has determined meets the requirements of the Fly America Act. (c) The employee is an officer or employee of the Department of State or an Executive branch employee under Chief of Mission authority, and travel is paid with funds appropriated to one of these agencies and the employee's travel is between two places outside the United States. (d) No U.S. flag air carrier provides service on a particular leg of the route, in which case foreign air carrier service may be used, but only to or from the nearest interchange point on a usually traveled route to connect with U.S. flag air carrier service. (e) A U.S. flag carrier involuntarily reroutes the employee's travel onto a foreign carrier. (f) Service on a foreign air carrier would be three hours or less, and use of the U.S. flag carrier would at least double the employee's en route travel time. (g) When the costs of transportation are reimbursed in full by a third party, such as a foreign government, international agency, or other organization. (h) For travel solely outside the U.S., use of an available U.S. flag air carrier when compared to using a foreign air carrier will increase the number of aircraft changes the employee must make en route by 2 or more; or extend the travel time by 6 hours or more; or require a connecting time of 4 hours or more at an overseas interchange point. (i) The employee is an officer or employee of the Department of State or an executive branch employee under Chief of Mission authority, and travel meets the requirements of 22 U.S.C. 4081a.