§ 301-15.26 - Progressive airline awards for the same city/airport pair.

When progressive awards are made for the same city/airport pair, the awardees are listed in the FTD in priority order from the awardee (primary) offering the lower YCA fare to the awardee (secondary) offering the next higher YCA fare. Except as otherwise provided in this section, agencies shall obtain contract services in the order of awardee priority specified in the FTD.

(a) Where the awardee offers both a YCA fare and a restricted fare (e.g., QCA) for the same city/airport pair, the FTD lists both fares and describes the qualifying conditions for obtaining the restricted fare. The availability of a lower restricted fare by a secondary awardee does not remove the Government's obligation to request service from the primary awardee. Agencies may use the secondary awardee's restricted fare only if the exceptions noted in paragraph (b) of this section indicate that the use of the secondary awardee is justified. For example, if the primary awardee listed in the FTD offers a YCA fare of $90 and the secondary awardee offers a YCA fare of $100 and a QCA fare of $80, the QCA fare of $80 may be used only if the primary awardee with the lower YCA fare of $90 is displaced for reasons noted in paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) The secondary awardee may be used when:

(1) Seating space or the scheduled flight of the primary awardee is not available in time to accomplish the purpose of the travel, or the scheduled flight would require the traveler to incur unnecessary overnight lodging expense;

(2) The primary awardee's flight schedule for the travel involved is inconsistent with the Government's policy of scheduling travel to the maximum extent practicable during normal working hours (see 5 CFR 610.123); or

(3) Based on a cost comparison, the primary awardee's fare, when added to such factors as ground transportation, lost productive time, allowable overtime, and additional overnight lodging expense, would result in higher costs to the Government than the costs resulting from the use of the secondary awardee.

(c) When an awardee offers a commercial fare lower than its Government contract fare, the ordering agency may use the lower fare provided the qualifications for obtaining the lower fare are compatible with the agency's travel requirements and provided a cost comparison of total costs prescribed in paragraph (b)(3) of this section justifies a change in the order of awardee succession. By offering the general public a fare lower than its contract fare, the awardee assumes the status of a noncontract carrier and the provisions of § 301-15.27 apply.