GSA #10110

September 14, 2004
Contact: Viki Reath (202) 501-1231
viki.reath@gsa.gov

Washington – The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has awarded its fiscal year 2005 City Pair contracts, which provide discounted airfares on 4,345 routes and are expected to save billions of dollars in fiscal 2005.

GSA negotiated rates with 13 U.S. airlines for official federal government travelers on 3,616 domestic and 729 international routes.

“For fiscal year 2005, these contracts are expected to save the Government more than $2 billion,” said Donna Bennett, Commissioner of GSA's Federal Supply Service. “GSA and its airline partners continue to offer best value solutions that enable federal agencies to better allocate their resources to fulfill their important missions."

Each year, GSA's Federal Supply Service awards competitive contracts to U.S. Airlines, based on the best overall value to the Government. Average flight time, offered price, type of service, flight distribution and numbers of flights are all considered in determining the best value.  Building on its established acquisition mission, GSA ensures that government travelers have a program that meets all the requirements and sets a standard of excellence and compliance in contracting procedures.

Dual fares will continue to be available in more than 2,300 markets, as will unrestricted contract fares continue to be available in all markets.

Federal employees on official government travel can save even more when the book early, since capacity-controlled fares are restricted to the number of seats available at that reduced fare and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

GSA's City Pair Program continues to offer federal travelers advantages over commercial fares, such as last seat availability, fully refundable tickets and no charge for cancellations or schedule changes. Also, the City Pair Program helps agencies better plan their travel budgets, because the unrestricted fare price remains the same throughout the one-year contract starting Oct. 1 and ending Sept. 30, 2005.

Under the City Pair Program, two contract rates are awarded:

• Unrestricted fare (YCA).
• Capacity-controlled fare (_CA).

For example:

Discounts are generally greater in larger markets.

In the evaluation criteria, considerable weight was given to customers' strong preference for non-stop service. Non-stop service was awarded in 1,674 markets which is 96% of markets where non-stop service was offered.

Awards were made to the following airlines:

GSA is a centralized federal procurement, property management and policy agency, created by Congress to improve government efficiency and help federal agencies better serve the public. On behalf of federal agencies, GSA acquires office space, equipment, telecommunications, information technology, supplies and services. It also plays a key role in developing and implementing government wide policies. GSA’s 13,000 associates provide services and solutions for office operations for more than one million federal workers located in more than 8,000 government-owned and leased buildings in 2,000 U.S. communities.