You must authorize travel on a Government aircraft as follows:

(a) For required-use travel. Your agency must first establish written standards for determining the special circumstances under which it will require travelers to use Government aircraft. Then, following those standards, your agency's senior legal official or his/her principal deputy must authorize required-use travel on a trip-by-trip basis in advance and in writing, unless—

(1) The traveler is an agency head, and the President has determined that all of his or her travel, or travel in specified categories, requires the use of Government aircraft; or

(2) Your agency head has determined in writing that all travel, or travel in specified categories, by another traveler requires the use of Government aircraft.

(b) For travel by senior Federal officials. Your agency's senior legal official or his/her principal deputy must authorize all travel on Government aircraft by senior Federal officials on a trip-by-trip basis, in advance and in writing, except for required use travel authorized under paragraphs (a)(1) or (a)(2) of this section. In an emergency situation, prior verbal approval with an after-the-fact written authorization by your agency's senior legal official is permitted. Senior Federal officials who are crewmembers or qualified non-crewmembers on a flight in which they are also traveling (i.e., being transported from point-to-point) are considered travelers and must be authorized to travel on Government aircraft according to this paragraph.

(c) For travel by non-Federal travelers. If you are the sponsoring agency for a non-Federal traveler, your senior legal official or his/her deputy must authorize all travel on Government aircraft by that non-Federal traveler on a trip-by-trip basis, in advance and in writing. In an emergency situation, prior verbal approval with an after-the-fact written authorization by your agency's senior legal official is permitted.

(d) For all other travel.

(1) Your agency's designated travel approving official (or anyone to whom he/she delegates this authority and who is at least one organizational level above the traveler) must authorize, in advance and in writing, all other travel on Government aircraft (i.e., by passengers, crewmembers, or qualified non-crewmembers) that is not covered in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this section. In an emergency situation, prior verbal approval with an after-the-fact written authorization by your agency's designated travel approving official is permitted. If your agency wishes to issue blanket travel authorizations that authorize travel on Government aircraft, such blanket authorizations must define the circumstances that must be met for using Government aircraft in compliance with this regulation and any additional agency policies. Travel on Government aircraft that does not meet the circumstances specified in the blanket travel authorization must be authorized on a trip-by-trip basis in accordance with this regulation and other applicable agency policies.

(2) When authorizing space available travel (except as authorized under 10 U.S.C. 2648 and regulations implementing that statute), you must ensure that the aircraft management office in the agency that owns or hires the aircraft has certified in writing before the flight that the aircraft is scheduled to be used for a bona fide governmental function. Bona fide governmental functions may include support for official travel. The aircraft management office must also certify that carrying a traveler(s) in space available does not cause the need for a larger aircraft or result in more than minor additional cost to the Government. The aircraft management office must retain this certification for two years. In an emergency situation, prior verbal confirmation of this information with an after-the-fact written certification is permitted.

[FTR Amdt. 2004-02, 69 FR 34305, June 21, 2004, as amended by FTR Amdt. 2010-04, 75 FR 59095, Sept. 27, 2010]