So, what does happen when two or more airlines decide to consolidate or agree to a merger?  The consolidation/merger will go through several steps that will ultimately lead to one operation.  Below is a brief summary of some of the steps they will need to partake in:

• The airlines involved will need to sign an agreement after all legalities have been negotiated.
• Integrate management, routing structures, develop and obtain regulatory approvals concerning maintenance operations and conduct training.
• Then there is the Labor phase to consolidate and combine their respective work groups.

For the consumer or traveler:

• Traveler’s previously purchased tickets are usually honored with no problems.  (Occasionally flights have to be cancelled or rescheduled due to the merger but they try to accommodate the traveler even if they have to go to another airline to fill their needs.)
• Frequent Flyer status and points are transferred to the revised programs without any issues as well.

Once the airlines have consolidated the consumers, businesses and travel management systems feel the effects that can sometimes be good but also bad at the airport and in the market.  With less competition in most major markets the merger can reduce the amount of schedules offered and no longer at the lower fares.  Passengers that were loyal to their particular airlines may start to look elsewhere for cheaper flights and to those who offer more departures on additional days and times, all depending on what other airlines are offering at the time.

Consolidation can cause the merged airline’s routes to overlap and for certain cities with major hubs this causes a loss in service for one or the other airlines therefore creating fewer flight schedules.  This eventually can cut into the offered non-stop flights that were previously offered and reduce the benefits that were previously given to a traveler who frequents those routes.

Often the high ranking companies that provide on-time service can be hindered by their partnered airline(s) if they do not meet the same requirements or performance.  It doesn’t appear to improve customer service when airlines try to become more efficient for their own gains.  After a merger has been completed the special features that once drew a consumer to their airline to begin with has been dropped from the new integrated package of services offered.  In order for the airlines to co-exist they still offer special services but without the frills and generally at a higher rate now that they are no longer competing with each other for the business.

Reduction in the flight schedules also opens up another problem.  If you reduce the availability of different times and multiple days of departures are you not opening this up to your existing competitors to jump on the opportunity to take over with offering more flights themselves gaining popularity with the public?  Yes, this may result in gradually lowering fares but at what cost to the traveler.  Can the consolidation of airlines between large low-cost and low-fare carriers partner with others and still bring balance and protection to the consumer?

And what about our fellow Federal and Business travelers, will the companies be able to or want to maintain or provide their services through the GDS (Global Distribution System) and SABRE systems that most managed travel programs use?  A lot of independent airlines have been finding ways of going out on their own and avoiding the participation in the systems so that they don’t have to participate.

Several questions come to mind when we think of how and what our future travel needs will be.  Can a consolidation or merger change those needs?  Technology has played a big part in business travel by reducing some of the need to travel for meetings, training and conferences, all with the help of the innovation into Video and conference calling and the WebEx capabilities offered to just about all businesses.  Economic hardships for the industry and consumer have had an even harder impact on how people choose to travel.  Add to this the concern for safety from airplane maintenance to the fear terrorists.

To me the positive side of this is that you have two or more airlines that are trying to work together to make a good thing happen by giving a company a second chance.

By:  Debbie Hardman 

“The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Bureau of the Government or my Agency.”

It is the responsibility of each traveler to communicate directly with a service provider to establish his/her frequent travel promotional benefits account. Any associated costs are to be paid by the traveler, and are not a reimbursable expense. Frequent Flyer Miles can be redeemed for free personal trips or upgrades to business or first class accommodations.  Mileage and points can be redeemed for other goods and services with certain vendors.

The FTR requires government employees to generally travel by coach class accommodations, however, the traveler can upgrade their class of service at their own expense or if they have earned the FFM they can use the frequent traveler benefits to upgrade to premium service.  Government agencies will not pay for any upgrades unless an FTR exception is met.

 By:  Deva Wilson

“The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.”

By the late 1970s airlines were installing CRS’ in travel agencies throughout North America. For almost two decades, approximately 80 percent of the CRS’ in travel agencies came from two CRS companies—Sabre which was owned an operated by American Airlines, and Apollo by United Airlines. Travel agencies leased the CRS’, including the hardware, from the airline. The system looked much like a personal computer does today, but it was different in an important way. It was a dumb terminal: meaning it could exchange information with the airline’s central computer, but it could not do any processing of its own. Reservations on hundreds of major airlines throughout the world could be made on any of these systems.

The 1990s brought many changes to CRS’, partly because of the spreading use of the personal computers and the Internet. The systems themselves are now usually called global distribution systems (GDS) and most systems are owned and run by companies independent of the airlines. Other changes in GDS’ are more obvious to users. Dumb terminals are a thing of the past; on today’s GDS’, users can run a host of programs to perform tasks such as word processing, accounting, and database management. Both command interfaces and graphical interfaces are available. And GDS’ offer a wealth of information on all travel products, not just air travel.

The companies that run GDS’ are sometimes called hosts or vendors. They obtain revenue from suppliers that pay to have their services included in the system as well as from travel agencies that subscribe to the system.

Many suppliers such as Southwest, Airtran, and Jet Blue have their own computerized reservation systems but still participate in a GDS. They have the choice of various levels of participation, for various costs. For example, an airline might have its schedule displayed on the GDS, but not information about the availability of seats on its flights–this is the least expensive level of participation. More expensive levels of participation may indicate the availability of seats on a particular flight or allow the reservations to be made through the GDS. At the most expensive level of participation, there is a direct link between the supplier’s computer system and the GDS allowing the user to receive up to the minute reservation information.

Airline, hotel, and rental car participation in a GDS paved the way for today’s E Gov Travel Systems. Our E Gov Travel vendor provides a one-stop shop that allows our government travelers to process their travel documents, book their reservations and claim reimbursement once their trip is complete all using the same system. This progressive evolution came from the government and the travel industry working together to forge relationships that modernized government travel.

by Carole Byrd

Disclaimer: The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.  Use of this equipment is consistent with the agency’s policy governing limited personal use.

One of the goals of the President’s Management Agenda E-Gov Travel Service was to provide a cost savings to the agencies. The agencies can only achieve these cost savings by promoting and encouraging self-service reservations whenever possible. A simple trip from Washington Dulles to Atlanta should not require agent intervention. Yet it does even if booked online, because the City Pair carrier is Air Tran. It is conceded that Air Tran and another similar carrier, Jet Blue offer very low city pair fares, some of the lowest in all the markets. In this day and age of automation and 3GB I-phones, a Government traveler should be able to book any city pair fare online as a self-service transaction.

by Jacqueline Lynch

The GDS houses the necessary information that will allow travel agents to book and sell airline tickets, book hotel rooms, make rental car reservations, and reserve rail reservations and more. The first GDS, Sabre, was created by the airlines in the 1960s.  Sabre has been around a lot longer than its competitors; Amadeus was created in 1987, Worldspan in 1990 and Galileo/Apollo in 1993.

These complex systems have numerous capabilities.  Besides what was previously mentioned, the GDS can even allow a traveler to select a particular seat on an aircraft.  The GDS will also allow a traveler to enter their frequent flyer number, so that the traveler can receive rewards for flying with a particular airline.

Sabre also provides a website that gives the travelers the latest information concerning their reservations.  This site is very helpful to my agency as some of our travelers neglect to electronically attach their invoice/itinerary to his/her voucher.  We can easily go to the Sabre’s Virtually There website, print a copy of the traveler’s invoice, and attach it to their voucher.

Federal Government travelers must use their E-Gov Travel System or book the traditional way by calling their travel management center (TMC).  Even though Federal Government travelers are not allowed to use a commercial used on-line booking engine, Sabre owns Travelocity.com, which is the leading on-line travel website.

No matter which GDS is used in connection with your agency’s E-Gov Travel System, one factor to keep in mind is that not all airlines participate in a GDS.  Currently the following airlines do not participate:

• AFRIC AIR CHARTER
• ALASKA MARINE HIGHWAY
• AIRTRAN AIRWAYS
• AIR NORTH
• BERING AIR INC
• BIG SKY
• CANADIAN NORTH/AIR NORTERRA INC.
• CAPE AIR
• EXPRESS JET
• FRONTIER FLYING SERVICE
• FRONTIER FLYING
• FORTY MILE AIR
• FJORD FLYING SERVICE
• FS AIR SERVICE / TRANS AIR BENIN
• GREAT LAKES
• HAGLAND AIRLINES
• HOMER AIR
• ISLAND AIR
• JET BLUE
• KENMORE AIR HARBOUR INC.
• LAB FLYING SERVICE
• LARRY’S FLYING SERVICE
• OLYMPIC AIRLINES
• PACIFIC COAST AIRLINES
• PAN AM CLIPPER CONNECT/BOSTON MAINE AIRWAYS
• PENAIR/PENISULA AIR
• PROMECH
• SOUTHWEST
• SPERNAK AIR
• SPIRIT AIRLINES
• VIRGIN AMERICA
• WARBELOWS AIR VENTURES
• WINGS OF ALASKA
• WRIGHT AIR SERVICE

by Pam Morton

The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.

This reduction in travel budgets raised the age old question:  “Why are we required to use City Pair Fares when there are penalty fares available at a much lower rate?” We’ve spent a lot of time in the last few months reviewing with our travelers the reasons we prefer that they book a City Pair Fare and not a penalty fare.

In 1980, the General Services Administration (GSA) developed the City Pair Program (CPP) to provide discounted air passenger transportation services to Federal Government travelers. Many of our travelers have noted that while the City Pair Fares are lower than the standard coach fare, penalty fares are even cheaper.

The average savings is 63%-77% below commercial full fares. A critical aspect of travel planning is flexibility and the CPP has many features that allow government travelers all the flexibility possible. We spend a lot of time pointing out that these flexibility features are what makes the City Pair Fare a better option over a penalty fare.

Features of the program include:

• Non-stop service was awarded on 95% of the markets where non-stop service was offered. This feature saves the government traveler time which means more time spent in the office and not sitting in an airport waiting for the connecting flight.

• Fares are priced on one-way routes, permitting agency travelers to plan multiple destinations. Our travelers can combine multiple trips into one and again spend less time on the road and more time in the office.

• Fares are unrestricted, meaning:

• No advance purchase required
• Tickets are fully refundable
• No charge for cancellations or changes
• Last seat availability
• No blackout periods
• No minimum or maximum length of stay required

The last feature is one of the most beneficial and cost efficient for our travelers. No advance purchase and fully refundable means that government travelers can cancel a trip at any time and receive a full refund. Trips can also be changed to accommodate changes in operational business needs and changing the reservation will not incur any additional fees or charges.

The Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) requires nearly all Federal Government travelers to use the CPP which is part of the reason GSA is able to obtain such phenomenal pricing. There are a few exceptions for not using the CPP; however, travelers that use these exceptions would have to consider the additional cost that typically goes along with standard commercial fares. With exchange fees ranging from $100 – $150 each time, a penalty fare could go from being cost efficient to very expensive in no time. In addition to the exchange fees, trips that are cancelled could mean lost funding for the agency. Penalty fares are usually non-refundable and those that do provide a refund only offer a portion of the original fare and they’re non-transferable which means that they can only be used by that same traveler. Some may come with additional restrictions and black-out periods that restrict when the ticket can be used.  Those who travel frequently for their agency may be able to use that partial refund but for the infrequent traveler, it will most likely result in lost funds for the agency.

Some airlines that do not win the contract offer federal travelers a government fare—sometimes referred to as a “me too” or discounted government (DG) fares. These fares are usually comparable to the GSA City Pair fare in price; however, they may or may not be fully refundable and may come with ticketing restrictions. Again, those restrictions need to be fully researched and taken into consideration when booking a DG fare.

Our EGov Travel System has the mandatory use of the CPP built in so that travelers can easily identify which fares are contract carriers and which ones are not. Built in system audits force travelers who did not choose the contract carrier to provide FTR justifications before completing their travel authorization. These built in controls encourage the use of the CPP and keep our travelers in compliance with federal travel regulations as well as help our customers maintain better control of their travel budgets.

Agencies should take into consideration the nature of a trip and the probability of a reservation change or cancellation before allowing travelers to use a penalty fare over the GSA City Pair Fare. Something as simple as a weather delay or cancellation could end up costing an agency much more than what they would have paid for a City Pair Fare. The bottom line is:  Yes, the City Pair Fares are still the most cost efficient choice for helping to reduce travel funding and saving the agency’s travel budget.

By Carole Byrd

Disclaimer: The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.  Use of this equipment is consistent with the agency’s policy governing limited personal use.

Government travel is regulated by numerous laws and regulations.  Understanding the laws and rules that apply to government employee travel and each branch they are employed by is essential to doing business with any government agency.   All travel activities from contracted city-pair airfare to per diem, requires travelers and travel arrangers to comply with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Defense Acquisition Regulations (DFARS), Federal Travel Regulations (FTR), Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), and Standardized Regulations (DSSR).  It can seem cumbersome trying to understand what laws and rules apply to the traveler, the travel management company, and what specifically applies to a particular branch of government.  It is always best to do research through the SGTP, and the GSA websites.  Both of these resources can answer questions, but also refer any government employee or civilian doing business with the federal government to the specific regulation they may be inquiring about.  Any individual’s best bet is to read and understand the laws and rules that apply to civilian government employees and uniformed active military and the specific branch of government they are employed with, or are doing business with.  These laws are the fundamental foundations to understanding where the government travel industry will head in the future as well as give up to date regulations for all government traveler and travel planning.

Is the future of government travel and travel planning with ETS, Electronic Travel Systems, or the full service TMC, Travel Management Company?  That seems to be the question concerning not only government employees, but the TMCs alike.   ETS, Electronic Travel systems are currently have TMCs embedded or accommodated for each specific branch of the federal government, and the ETS solution such as GovTrip.  What that means is the TMC is still ensuring each reservation gets ticketed and there are no glitches with the reservation. Once a reservation is made through the ETS, it gets electronically sent to the TMC through the GDS, Global Distribution System of their agency.   TMCs run each reservation through their quality control software to ensure the government traveler’s record is free of errors, consistent, and airfare is set for ticketing.  Quality control software internally used by TMCs utilize automated, manual tasks, that take the reservation further than what an ETS can accomplish.  Quality control systems can be modeled around federal per diem rates and other federal lodging requirements to provide a great cost (and time) savings for government travelers.  These unique collaborative suites of quality control file finishing modules works with the GovTrip and other ETS solutions.  Understanding that the TMC has just as much power behind the ticketing a government reservation as the actual ETS booking engine itself, shows that the TMC is needed for self service reservations and full service call centers alike for all government travel.

Other government organizations such as the General Services Administrations, GSA, play a vital role in shaping the government travel industry today and into the future.  The General Services Administration is an independent agency of theUnited Statesgovernment, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies.  The GSA supplies products and communications forU.S.government offices, provides transportation and office space to federal employees, and develops government-wide cost-minimizing policies, including regulation and approving TMCs and policies for Federal Government Travel.  GSA also regulates and publishes FTR Federal Travel Regulations.  Former President Herbert Hoover was asked in 1947 by President Harry Truman to lead a commission to make recommendations to the President and congress on how to improve administrative activities of the federal government. GSA became an independent agency on July 1, 1949.  In 1980 The GSA launched the City-pair program testing 11 city pair contracts for reducing airfare cost to the federal governement.  GSA now administers over 5,000 city pairs contracted airfares for up to 70% savings for allUSfederal travelers.  As part of their effort, GSA maintains the large GSA Schedule, which other agencies can use to buy goods and services, schedule 599 refers to the services GSA administers for the federal government travel .  Specifically if a TMC would like to do business with the federal government, GSA TSS approval is recommended. The GSA Schedule can be thought of as a collection of pre-negotiated contracts. Procurement managers from government agencies can view these agreements and make purchases from the GSA Schedule knowing that all legal obligations have been taken care of by GSA, and TMCs meet all federal requirements.

The variety of TMCs available to the federal government started with Scheduled Airline Ticket Offices, SATO.  Today, although only 37 TMCs are currently GSA approved and TSS, Travel Services Solution certified, deregulation and the fair in competition acts and laws along with thousands of Travel Management Companies benefit the federal government procurement process for travel services.  The Billions spent annually benefit the economy by revenue flowing through, airlines, hotels, car-rental agencies, not to mention the food service industry, restaurants, and entertainment.  Interesting? Who is there to help manage the process from the civilian side of this industry? The TMC.  In partnership with the federal government, with great relations, unwavering application of laws and policies, from communication to accounting for every dollar spent, this partnership is immeasurable and most beneficial to the federal governement as well as the TMC.  TMCs in today’s federal governement travel industry, must not only provide a service for the federal government, but must know the industry, study the ongoing changes, and be able to properly guide all government travelers to be in compliance with their entire travel plans from start to finish.  The TMC and the federal government travelers can look forward to many years in partnership together, managing this robust expense for theUnited States of America.

By:  Scott Carver

The majority of these are in the category of airfare and the difference between contract fares (YCA), capacity controlled contract fares (-CA) and non-refundable fares. Frequent travelers understand the differences pretty well, but the vast majority of federal travelers are infrequent travelers and do not always understand what the requirements are for the types of airfares they can select. In addition to this, travelers often think they can take business or first class fares.

There are limited reasons in the FTR where this can be acceptable, but in general they are not allowed for the routine traveler. Some of you may have seen this issue on the news this week where the General Accounting Office conducted a study of first class and business class trips. The result was some cases were found where there was either no valid FTR justification to take these type of flights, or there was fraud in taking them.

Many of the people taking them were higher graded government officials and as a result of spending more taxpayer money than was necessary, GAO recommended in their report that the FTR should be amended to institute better controls in requesting business class and first class fares. As you saw in this section of the class, travelers can fly business or first class when the government is not paying for it.

This is generally done by travelers using their frequent flier mileage points. Even though this is permissable, those travelers in the GAO report were not doing this, and even if they had done so, they were so high up the ladder that even the appearance of flying first class for them may not be worth the publicity.

We strive to educate our travelers in the correct procedures for flying for the government. And as can be seen, sometimes these points can make the national news.

Here is the link in the event you want to read the GAO Report:

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071268.pdf

By Daniel Carozza

“The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily relfect the position of the Bureau of the Public Debt, or the U.S. Department of the Treasury.”

Below is information from the FTR geared towards carriers under the City Program contracts.  To make sure you get the most current information on baggage allowance policies you can  check with your agency’s Travel Management Center or Commercial Travel Office or with the individual airline.

Federal Travel Regulation 301.12.2 identifies excess baggage as a miscellaneous expense. You should verify your agency’s policy and procedures regarding miscellaneous expense policy on excess baggage fees.

The following Federal Travel Regulation excerpt is applicable to payment of baggage expenses when the respective agency determines the miscellaneous expense is in interest of the government.

§301-12.2 What baggage expenses may my agency pay?

Your agency may reimburse expenses related to baggage as follows:

a)    Transportation charges for authorized excess;

b)    Necessary charges for transferring baggage;

c)    Necessary charges for storage of baggage when such charges are the result of official business;

d)    Charges for checking baggage; and

e)    Charges or tips at transportation terminals for handling Government property carried by the traveler.

Many times there is not only one fee but can be subject to other fees, such as; one for just having an extra bag, another if you exceed the weight limit  and then on top of that they can add a fee if the size of your bag is not within their restrictions.  The list can go on and on, even checking the restrictions for all scenarios of baggage fees can be rigorous.  Travelers will soon be paying more for their baggage then they are for the actual flight.  News programs have indicated that travelers going on vacations are taking action by concentrating on bringing only what is necessary and opting to do more laundry while they are traveling.  One man was traveling back from visiting his home town and family and had to make a decision to throw away his Mother’s prized quilt so that he could afford to fly back to his residence.  Getting rid of personal items such as the quilt would not necessarily affect a government traveler but the cost of traveling by air has made all travelers, government and civilian alike, to take a closer look at how their travel needs are met.

By:  Debra Hardman

“The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Bureau of the Government or my Agency.”

[1] CBS New York.com

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and (TSA) developed a behind the scenes, prescreening program that will theoretically match traveler information against government watch lists to identify suspected and known terrorist and individuals who have been misidentified in the past – Secure Flight.

Secure Flight is intended to prevent known or suspected terrorist from boarding flights and protect legitimate airline customers identity.  By moving the watch list matching responsibility that was previously performed by dozens of air carriers to TSA, it has simplified and streamlined the process, therefore, making it much more efficient.  According to TSA, then, Acting Administrator Gale Rossides, “Secure Flight will make travel safer and easier for passengers.”

According to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano “These new measures utilize real-time, threat-based intelligence along with multiple, random layers of security, both seen and unseen, to more effectively mitigate evolving terrorist threats”.

Secure Flight collects data that airlines previously did not collect and transmits the information no later than 72 hours prior to the departure time.  If a reservation is made within 72 hours of the flight, the information is transmitted when the reservation is made.  TSA requires that airlines collect and transmit the following:

• Full name which matches the form of ID presented
• Itinerary
• Date of Birth
• Gender
• Redress number – optional
• Passport # for international itineraries (if available)

Secure Flight was a phased-in operation. Implementation for all domestic airlines occurred throughout 2009, as some airlines were implementation later than others.  Secure Flight was also implemented for international flights.  Airlines will not be able to issue a boarding pass until the data is transmitted to TSA and they respond with authorization to print a boarding pass.  Airlines were not required to transmit data for reservations that were made prior to the implementation, but may have done so voluntarily..

The second phase of Secure Flight began approximately August 15, 2009 when travelers were required to provide their gender and date of birth when booking travel.

TSA’s goal was to have Secure Flight 100% implemented and operational for all domestic flights by early 2010 and 100% operational for all international travelers by the end of 2010.

How did Secure Flight affect the average traveler?  There was little to no affect on the average traveler.  Before Secure Flight, airlines matched passenger information against a No Fly list which was provided by TSA.  Under Secure Flight, TSA takes over this function from the airlines.  The biggest change for travelers is that airlines will request additional information from a passenger when making a reservation.  Providing the additional information listed above should differentiate a passenger from someone who is on the watch list and prevent misidentification.

Travelers need to make certain that their name on the reservation matches their government issued ID.  Passengers should try to be consistent between the name on their ID and the travel information they use for booking flights.

If a passenger is identified as a possible match to the watch list, he will not be able to get a boarding pass until he has checked in with the airline, providing them with identifying documentation.  The airline will not be able to provide a boarding pass for any passenger who is confirmed to be on the No Fly List. Therefore, providing your full name, correct date of birth and gender when making a reservation may prevent being misidentified as a potential match to the watch list.

Travelers who believe they have been mistakenly matched to a name on the watch list should apply for Redress through the Department of Homeland Security Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP).  The results of the redress process are used in the watch list matching process, by Secure Flight, to prevent future misidentifications of travelers who may have a name that is similar to an individual on the watch list.

Secure Flight takes the security of personal information seriously.  The collected information is protected by the highest set of security standards established by the federal government.

According to some airlines one of the down falls of Secure Flight is problems encountered by frequent fliers.  Secure Flight requires your full legal name.  However, a lot of frequent flier accounts do not reflect the passenger’s full name.  It is usually first and last name or first name, middle initial and last name.  Therefore since the names do not match, the passenger could be missing out on upgrade opportunities and other airline perks.  If a travelers name is different than that on their frequent flyer account, the traveler should contact the airline frequent flyer program to determine what steps are necessary to update their frequent flyer account information

By Diane Huffman