Fly America Act & Open Skies Agreements Guidance

A person traveling on funds provided by the federal government must use a US flag carrier (an airline owned by an American company), regardless of cost or convenience.

When scheduling international travel that is federally funded, you must ensure that all flights, where possible, are scheduled on US flag carriers or on foreign air carriers that code share with a US flag carrier. Code sharing means: when two or more airlines “code” the same flight as if it was their own.

Travelers are encouraged to book their international travel, when federally funded, through Christopherson’s Travel Agency through State of Utah Travel. The agents are well versed in the Fly America Act. Please be sure to advise them that your trip is federally funded.

US Flag Air Carriers

In order for a flight to be in compliance with the Fly America Act, the code of a US flag air carrier must be noted as part of the flight number on the airline ticket, flight coupon (boarding pass*), or passenger receipt. Each airline has a two letter alpha code. From this list, you will be able to compare airline codes on the ticket with those on the list and thereby be able to ascertain whether or not the flight is on a US Flag air carrier.

US flag carriers and their codes are below to assist you.

Code Sharing

A US airline may sell a seat on the plane of a foreign air carrier; this seat is considered the same as one on a plane operated by a US flag carrier. Compliance with the Fly America Act is satisfied when the US flag air carrier's designator code is present in the area next to the flight numbers on the airline ticket, boarding pass, or on the documentation for an electronic ticket (passenger receipt) – see example below, where Delta Airlines (DL) has a code share agreement with Air France (AF) to Paris, France.

Exceptions to the Fly America Act

To document the exceptions, please complete and attach the Fly America Act Waiver Checklist.

The biggest exception to the Fly America Act is the Open Skies Agreement. On October 6, 2010, the United States and European Union (EU) Open Skies Air Transport Agreement was published by the US General Services Administration. This multilateral agreement is in place so that qualifying travelers, whose travel is supported by federal funds, may travel on EU airlines as well as US Flag Air Carriers. There are also Open Skies agreement with Australia, Switzerland, and Japan. Please see the Flowchart below.

There are other exceptions to the Fly America Act which may be appropriate as well. A list of exception criteria may be found in the Federal Travel Regulation Guidelines – FTR sections 301-10.135-138. Please note that lower cost and personal convenience are not acceptable criteria for justifying the non-availability of a US–flag air carrier.

Please note: Travelers using Department of Defense (DOD), Air Force, Army, or Navy funds are not permitted to take advantage of Open Skies Agreements. These travelers must use an American carrier, unless they qualify for an exemption as noted in FTR 301-10.135, sections (a), (d), (e), (f), and (g).

Please see the examples listed below. Examples provided compliments of GlobeTrotter.

Travel Examples

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Travel to a European Union Country, Norway and Iceland

According to the Open Skies agreement between the US and European Union (EU) countries, Norway or Iceland, you may fly on any EU airline but ONLY when:

• Travel is NOT funded by US DOD (Department of Defense) or US Military, AND
• Flight touches down in an EU country, Norway, or Iceland

For example, you are flying from...

• Frankfurt (EU) → San Francisco (US)
• San Francisco (US) → Paris (EU)
• Dublin (EU) → NYC (US) → Vancouver (Non-US/Non-EU country)
• Mexico City (Non-US/Non-EU country) → NYC (US) → Madrid (EU)
• Cleveland (US) → Montreal (Non-US/Non-EU country) → Barcelona (EU)
• Vienna (EU) → Toronto (Non-US/Non-EU country) → Denver (US)
• Istanbul (Non-US/Non-EU country) → Amsterdam (EU) → Memphis (US)
• Orlando (US) → London (EU) → Moscow (Non-US/Non-EU country)
• Washington DC (US) → Sarajevo (ECAA - European Common Aviation Area)
• Belgrade (ECAA - European Common Aviation Area) → Washington DC (US)

When both conditions are met, you may travel on any of the following airlines:

This is not a complete list, but covers most common EU airlines.

Travel to Australia

According to the Open Skies agreement between the US and Australia, you may fly on any Australian airline but ONLY when:

• Travel is NOT funded by US DOD (Department of Defense) or US Military, AND
• US government DOES NOT have a published airfare rate for your travel route (City-Pair Agreement)

The GSA's City Pair Program offers government negotiated fares for flights between certain cities. If a city-pair agreement is in effect, you may not claim an Open Skies exception and must fly on a US flag carrier or US code share carrier.

Check Airfares City-Pair Search before booking flights to determine if a city-pair agreement is in effect. After entering your departure and arrival cities, the search tool will either display the city pair agreement fares, or will report "There are no awards for the requested city-pair," in which case the Open Skies Exemption can be used.

When both conditions are met, you may travel on any of the following airlines:

US flag airlines
Qantas Airways
Virgin Australia

Additional Exceptions

Other strictly limited circumstances in which an exception may be allowed include:

• a US flag carrier does not provide service on a particular leg of your trip,
• the use of a US carrier will unreasonably delay your travel time
• you are involuntarily rerouted, or
• medical or safety reasons.

Travel to Japan

According to the Open Skies agreement between the US and Japan, you may fly on any Japanese airline but ONLY when:

• Travel is NOT funded by US DOD (Department of Defense) or US Military, AND
• US government DOES NOT have a published airfare rate for your travel route (City-Pair Agreement)

The GSA's City Pair Program offers government negotiated fares for flights between certain cities. If a city-pair agreement is in effect, you may not claim an Open Skies exception and must fly on a US flag carrier or US code share carrier.

Check Airfares City-Pair Search before booking flights to determine if a city-pair agreement is in effect. After entering your departure and arrival cities, the search tool will either display the city pair agreement fares, or will report "There are no awards for the requested city-pair," in which case the Open Skies Exemption can be used.

When both conditions are met, you may travel on any of the following airlines:

US flag airlines
Japan Airlines
All Nippon Airways

Additional Exceptions

• a US flag carrier does not provide service on a particular leg of your trip,
• the use of a US carrier will unreasonably delay your travel time
• you are involuntarily rerouted, or
• medical or safety reasons.

Travel to Other Countries

• When travel is supported by federal funds, you must fly on a US flag airline unless you qualify for an exemption as noted in the Fly America Act. See Additional Exceptions section below.

Additional Exceptions

• a US flag carrier does not provide service on a particular leg of your trip,
• the use of a US carrier will unreasonably delay your travel time
• you are involuntarily rerouted, or
• medical or safety reasons.

Fly American Links

• NIH Grants & Funding
• NSF Grant Contitions
• Northwestern City-pair Program
• Tufts Fly America Open Skies & City Pair Matrix
• Tufts Travel on Sponsored Projects