41 C.F.R. §§ 301-70.800–301-70.907

Agencies must retain all travel authorizations and cost-comparisons for travel on Government aircraft for two years.

The rules in this part and §§ 301-10.260 through 301-10.265 of this chapter do not apply to travel on Government aircraft by the President and Vice President or by individuals traveling in support of the President and Vice President.

Agencies may use Government aircraft, i.e., aircraft that the agency owns, borrows, operates as a bailed aircraft, or hires as a CAS, to carry Federal and non-Federal travelers, but only in accordance with the rules in part 102 of this title and regulations in this part.

The agency head or their designee must approve use of the agency's Government aircraft for travel, i.e., for carrying passengers and any crewmembers or qualified non-crewmembers who are also traveling. This approval must be in writing and may be for recurring travel.

Except for travel authorized under 10 U.S.C. 2648, the agency must certify in writing before carrying passengers on a space available basis on the agency's Government aircraft that the aircraft is scheduled to perform a bona fide governmental function. Bona fide governmental functions may include support for official travel. The agency must also certify that carrying a passenger in space available does not cause the need for a larger aircraft and does not result in more than minor additional cost to the Government. The agency's aircraft management office must retain this certification for two years. In an emergency situation, prior verbal approval with an after-the-fact written certification is permitted.

To ensure Government aircraft are the most cost-effective alternative for travel, the agency's aircraft management office must calculate the cost of a trip on the Government aircraft, whether Federal aircraft Federal or CAS aircraft, and submit that information to the traveler's designated travel-approving official upon request. The designated travel-approving official must use that information to compare the cost of using Government aircraft with the cost of scheduled commercial airline service and the cost of using other available modes of transportation. When the agency operates a Government aircraft to fulfill a non-travel related governmental function or for required use travel, using any space available for passengers on official travel is presumed to result in cost savings.

Every traveler on one of the agency's Government aircraft must have a written travel authorization from an authorizing executive agency, and they must present that authorization, before the flight, to the aircraft management office or its representative in the organization that owns or hires the Government aircraft. In addition to all passengers, those crewmembers and qualified non-crewmembers on a flight in which they are also traveling (i.e., being transported from point to point) are considered travelers and must also be authorized to travel on Government aircraft.

Agencies must give each person aboard their aircraft a copy of the following disclosure statement: