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Federal travelers are required by 49 U.S.C. 40118, commonly referred to as the "Fly America Act," to use U.S. air carrier service for all air travel and cargo transportation services funded by the U.S. government. One exception to this requirement is transportation provided under a bilateral or multilateral air transport agreement, to which the U.S. government and the government of a foreign country are parties, and which the Department of Transportation has determined meets the requirements of the Fly America Act.
The U.S. government has entered into several air transport agreements that allow federal funded transportation services for travel and cargo movements to use foreign air carriers under certain circumstances.
There are currently four bilateral/multilateral “Open Skies Agreements” (U.S. Government Procured Transportation) in effect:
- U.S. Government and the European Union (EU) effective April 30, 2007
- U.S. - EU Amendment [pdf] effective June 24, 2010
- U.S. - EU Amendment effective June 21, 2011
- U.S. - Australia Open Skies Agreement [PDF - 4 MB] effective October 1, 2008
- U.S. - Switzerland Transport Agreement [PDF - 4 MB] effective October 1, 2008
- U. S. and Japan [pdf] effective October 1, 2011
Information on the four Open Skies Air Transportation Agreements (U.S. Government Procured Transportation) and other specific country agreements may be accessed via the Department of State's website.
The rights given to airlines concerning U.S Government procured transportation under the Open Skies Agreement do not apply to transportation obtained or funded by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military department.
Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) Bulletin 11-02 [PDF - 112 KB] and Bulletin 12-04 [PDF - 82 KB] provides additional information and guidance on Open Skies agreements.
For more information on Fly America Act and Open Skies, please send email to travelpolicy@gsa.gov.
Enterprise
Enterprise
As the nation’s largest public research university, the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) aims to catalyze, support and safeguard U-M research and scholarship activity.
The Office of the Vice President for Research oversees a variety of interdisciplinary units that collaborate with faculty, staff, students and external partners to catalyze, support and safeguard research and scholarship activity.
ORSP manages pre-award and some post-award research activity for U-M. We review contracts for sponsored projects applying regulatory, statutory and organizational knowledge to balance the university's mission, the sponsor's objectives, and the investigator's intellectual pursuits.
Ethics and compliance in research covers a broad range of activity from general guidelines about conducting research responsibly to specific regulations governing a type of research (e.g., human subjects research, export controls, conflict of interest).
eResearch is U-M's site for electronic research administration. Access: Regulatory Management (for IRB or IBC rDNA applications); Proposal Management (eRPM) for the e-routing, approval, and submission of proposals (PAFs) and Unfunded Agreements (UFAs) to external entities); and Animal Management (for IACUC protocols and ULAM).
Sponsored Programs manages the post-award financial activities of U-M's research enterprise and other sponsored activities to ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws as well as sponsor regulations. The Office of Contract Administration (OCA) is also part of the Office of Finance - Sponsored Programs.