4) GSA Discount Airfares
On June 21 of this year, the U.S. General Services Administration
(GSA) announced that it had awarded one-year contracts to
eleven U.S. airlines, with a total value of nearly $2 billion
dollars. These contracts will be effective starting October
1, 2006. GSA Administrator Lurita Doan said, “As the
premier federal acquisition agency, GSA is gratified to be
able to continue to provide the flexibility and choice agencies
need to accommodate changing travel patterns. GSA’s
expertise in leveraging the government’s buying power
continues to result in contracts that average approximately
65 percent of the cost of full fares.” GSA anticipates
that the discounts they negotiated will save the government
and taxpayers $3.6 billion for fiscal year 2007.
Following is a list of contracted airlines, which offer
best value to federal agencies and taxpayers:
Carrier |
No. Of Routes |
Estimated Value |
| American Airlines |
1,322 |
$448,574,349 |
| United Airlines |
1,178 |
$542,614,340 |
| Delta Airlines |
811 |
$334,353,988 |
| US Airways |
517 |
$277,347,194 |
| Northwest Airlines |
500 |
$168,472,580 |
Southwest Airlines |
368 |
$79,792,497 |
| Alaska Airlines |
79 |
$50,930,723 |
| Frontier Airlines |
27 |
$19,953,543 |
| Midwest Airlines |
52 |
$18,671,798 |
| ATA |
2 |
$329,448 |
| TOTAL |
4,961 |
$1,983,757,600 |
For more information go to www.gsa.gov.
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