Fly America Act

The Fly America Act, originally enacted in 1974, mandates that any foreign travel that is paid from federal funds, including foreign travelers coming to the U.S., must be accomplished through U.S. Flag Air Carriers. There have been many modifications to this act, the latest of which can be accessed at the Federal Travel Regulation webpage.

Please be advised that when you book travel on Cheap Flights, Expedia, Orbitz or other websites, the cheapest flights often are in violation of the Fly America Act and will not be allowed on any travel funded through federal or federal flow-through awards. If in doubt, please check with the Cost Accounting Unit of OSP before travel is booked.

One common misreading of these regulations is that when a foreign airline has a code-sharing agreement with a U.S airline, then that airline may be used when purchasing foreign travel. However, this is only true if the airline ticket was issued through a U.S. airline. In such cases the ticket or itinerary will show the name of the U.S. airline involved first, and then the name of the airline operating the flight. If a ticket does not show being issued by a U.S. Flag Carrier, this it is generally cannot be paid with federal dollars.

For example, Delta Airlines has a code-share agreement with KLM Airlines. If the boarding pass (flight coupon) or e-ticket identifies a flight as DL##, the requirements of the Fly America Act would be met, even though the flight was on a KLM Airlines airplane. If, however, the boarding pass (flight coupon) or e-ticket identifies the flight as a KL##, then the requirements of the Federal Travel Regulations would not be met. 

Further exceptions to the Fly America Act are on the UI Fly America Act Exception Form. The checklist allows the traveler to provide documentation of why a foreign carrier was used.

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