MDCP Fly America Act Waiver
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Note regarding code-sharing: what matters is which airline issues the ticket, not which airline operates the plane.
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Allowable Waiver Situations
(Without an approved waiver you must use a U.S. carrier on every portion of the route where one offers service. Note, lower cost is NOT an allowed basis for a waiver.) |
Enter or Attach in Grants Online |
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Basic Info |
Support for Justification |
| 1 |
U.S. service unavailable: |
U.S. carrier involuntarily re-routes traveler on foreign carrier. |
Enter:
-Names of travelers
-Dates of travel & times when travel will be completed
-Origin & destination
Explain why the waiver is justified per the situations cited at left |
Attach document from carrier or travel agent/service. |
| 2 |
No U.S. carrier serves a particular leg of the trip. |
Explain that U.S. carriers are not allowed to fly within a foreign country. Or attach search results as described below. (Example) |
| 3 |
Increased travel time: |
When flight from origin to destination airport by foreign air carrier is 3 hours or less.
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Use of U.S. carrier extends travel by 6 hours or more. |
Attach search results (Kayak, Expedia, etc.):
-Limit search parameters to date/time when travels needs to be completed.
-Do not limit search parameters to non-stop flights.
-Priority sort by time, not by price.
-Include all search result screens.
-For any/all U.S. carriers that show search results, explain why such flighes cannot be used. (Hand-written notes on search reslults really help! For example, "increases travel time by more than 6 hrs.") |
| 4 |
Use of U.S. carrier doubles travel time. |
| 5 |
Air travel between U.S. gateway airport & foreign gateway airport.
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Use of nonstop U.S. carrier extends travel by 24 hours or more. |
| 6 |
Bad foreign connections: |
U.S. carrier travel... |
...increases plane changes outside the U.S. by 2 or more. (Example) |
| 7 |
...has 4 hours or more time at foreign interchange point. (Example) |
| 8 |
Use of a foreign carrier is "a matter of necessity" because: |
U.S. carrier cannot provide needed transportation |
a. For medical reasons. |
Explain and/or document as appropriate:
-Medical condition.
-U.S. government travel advisory notice that specifically warns to avoid a U.S. carrier on the intended travel destinations of the trip in question.
-Other.
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| b. To avoid unreasonable risk to traveler's safety. |
c. Seat in authorized class of service is available on foreign carrier.
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Attach document from carrier or travel agent/service. |
d. Other reasons U.S. carrier cannot provide transportation. (Anything other 8.a.-c.)
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Explain and/or document as appropriate.
(Not to be used for more convenient travel or cost considerations.) |
e. Use of U.S. carrier will not accomplish DoC's mission.
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| 9 |
U.S. is party to bi- or multi-lateral agreement okayed by the Dept. of Transportation. As of Oct. 2011, travel aboard carriers flagged in the countries below is treated the same as if it were travel on a U.S. flag carrier: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Japan or the European Union. |
Explain that the travel will be on a carrier from one of the approved countries on the bi- or multi-lateral agreement list. |
| 10 |
No U.S. air travel segments. (Applies to travelers with a home duty station or place of work that is considered to be a foreign location.) |
Explain that traveler is based abroad, not in the United States. |
