The Fly America Act was enacted to mandate the use of U.S. flag carriers for travel paid for wholly or partially by the U.S. government, under rules and conditions that have been revised over the years. Many airlines, American and foreign, are gaming the process and creating opportunities for windfall profits from this act and take advantage of the restrictions required when conforming with the rules and regulations.
Through the use of code shares, joint ventures and alliances, these airlines are now leveraging the markups and profits by simply lending their names to foreign carriers that are designed to meet the requirements only by name, while the actual equipment, crew and facilities actually belong to foreign carriers. By simply slapping a code share U.S. flag flight number, a flight becomes eligible and conforms to the "Fly America Act" and usually carries a premium mark-up for the American flag carrier at the expense of the government and taxpayer.
The Act has inadvertently created some unintended consequenses and many unnecessary complexities. Fly America Act was not intended to line the U.S. flag carriers' pockets. www.premieretravel.com
