GSA awards city pair airline contracts, projects over $2 billion in taxpayer savings

July 18, 2023

WASHINGTON — Eight airlines received fiscal year 2024 General Services Administration (GSA) contracts today for airline passenger transportation of federal government travelers through the agency’s City Pair Program. Overall, the program is estimated to support about $2.4 billion in taxpayer savings for FY24 related to federal workers on official travel.

For the upcoming fiscal year, which begins October 1, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines will offer federal travelers an estimated 53% discount compared to commercial fares.

The GSA City Pair Program began in 1980 and has been an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) designated Best In Class solution since 2017. The City Pair Program is the largest strategically-sourced procurement for negotiated airfares in the world. GSA capitalizes on the scale of federal travelers to negotiate lower rates on flights between key cities.

“GSA makes it easier for government employees and military travelers to find and purchase airline flights for official business,” said GSA Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Sonny Hashmi.  “These negotiated fares save time, money, and effort, while allowing federal workers to help their agencies meet their missions by spending more time on their tasks and less time arranging official travel.” 

City Pair fares have no cancellation or change fees, no blackout dates, no minimum or maximum length of travel requirements, are fully refundable, and offer last-seat availability. The city-to-city routes were selected based on factors such as past travel bookings, availability of service, number of flights, flight availability, average elapsed flight time, and price of service.

City Pair performance

Federal travel slowed significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic but has rebounded in the last year and is expected to be near pre-pandemic levels throughout FY 2024. 

Compared to commercial fares, the past five years of the program show an average annual savings of around $1.76 billion.

• FY22 savings: $1.37 billion.
• FY21 savings: $992 million.
• FY20 savings: $1.35 billion.
• FY19 savings: $2.65 billion.
• FY18 savings: $2.48 billion.

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About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing approximately $87 billion in products and services via federal contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people. For more information, visit GSA.gov and follow us at @USGSA.