GovernmentExecutive.com

The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a small federal agency, logged the highest rate of premium-class travel governmentwide between 2005 and 2006, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office.

Despite being limited to no more than 300 employees, the agency's premium-class travel program was the sixth largest in dollars spent. Millennium Challenge's mission is to reduce global poverty by promoting sustainable economic development necessitates a large amount of international travel, but its premium travel ranks high even among other agencies with international programs.

Between July 1, 2005, and Sept. 30, 2006, the agency spent about $6.2 million in airfare, approximately $4.8 million of which included at least one leg of premium travel. About 77 percent of the agency's air travel was in a premium class, compared with the governmentwide premium average of 7 percent.

Employees booked premium-class tickets for 83 percent of flights to certain locations in Africa, the Middle East and Europe that lasted longer than 14 hours. The Agency for International Development used premium travel for 25 percent of flights and the State Department for 72 percent to the same location.

GAO found that flights of more than 14 hours were particularly susceptible to inappropriate premium-class booking. Before February 2006, Millennium Challenge used blanket authorizations to approve premium travel for flights exceeding 14 hours, but GAO noted that blanket authorizations violated the federal travel regulation.

"Premium-class flights are not something travelers are entitled to simply because certain conditions exist, and judicious approvals of premium class can reduce unnecessary expenses," wrote Gregory Kutz, managing director of GAO forensic audits and special investigations, in the management letter.

In February 2006, Millennium Challenge set a policy requiring authorization for travel on a trip-by-trip basis. But most of the flights GAO reviewed, even after the policy change, were not specifically authorized.

According to the federal travel regulation, premium travel authorization requires employees to report directly to work after flights longer than 14 hours without a rest period en route or upon arrival. GAO reported that a more stringent approval process for premium travel would prevent instances in which employees flew business class despite having a rest period during their trip or when they arrived.

In GAO's audit of governmentwide travel practices, the watchdog agency found "that internal policy can contribute to an overall control environment that substantially restricts premium-class travel." Kutz cited the Defense and Homeland Security departments as agencies that traveled premium class on only 3 percent of flights of more than 14 hours during the audit period, and he credited restrictions and scheduling policies with the relatively low spending on travel.

Millennium Challenge had several qualms with GAO's assessment of its travel program. In responding to the report, agency officials criticized GAO for failing to mention policy changes already made to limit premium class travel. Kutz countered that GAO determined the changes to be "ineffective in addressing the MCC internal control weaknesses we found."

The agency said despite "a number of factual errors ... in the GAO draft management letter, MCC agrees with many of the reports conclusions." Millennium Challenge specifically concurred with the need to justify and authorize each premium-class trip and the need to clarify agency policy to ensure premium class is used only when a rest stop is not feasible for business or medical reasons.