Military Aircraft

GAO reviewed more than 200 trips that 11 executive branch officials took on military aircraft between January 1989 and March 1991 that sometimes mixed official, political, and personal business. This report (1) discusses the extent of travel by the officials on military aircraft, (2) identifies the policies governing that travel, (3) discusses compliance with travel policies, and (4) identifies the operating costs of military aircraft used for political and personal travel. GAO found that 10 of the officials generally followed the travel regulation. The former White House Chief of Staff, however, often traveled without obtaining required authorization; in addition, the travel classification was ultimately changed for 21 of his trips, resulting in a reimbursement to the government of more than $5,000. The White House has since taken several steps to strengthen controls over travel. The Secretary of State, on the other hand, was not initially billed for three trips that mixed official and personal business. As a result of GAO's review, the government was reimbursed about $2,300, and the Secretary of State now flies commercial aircraft for personal domestic travel. For the 35 solely political and personal trips on military aircraft for which the official was the primary traveler, the estimated cost exceeded $750,000; reimbursements for this travel totaled about $61,500.

GAO found that: (1) out of 222 trips taken on military aircraft by the 11 executive branch officials, 151 were classified as solely official, 28 were mixed official and political or personal, and 43 were solely political or personal; (2) the General Service Administration and the Office of Management Budget provide guidance for official use of government aircraft, while White House policy requires that political and personal travel on military aircraft be reimbursed at the equivalent cost of commercial coach airfare plus $1; (3) 10 of the 11 officials generally followed travel policies requiring travel authorizations, justifications for using military aircraft, and reimbursements for political and personal trips; (4) of 195 trips requiring travel authorizations, 163 trips were properly authorized, while 32 trips were not properly authorized; (5) those 32 trips were primarily by the former White House Chief of Staff and the former Drug Policy Director; (6) 71 of the 222 trips involved at least some political or personal activity; (7) reimbursements totalled $77,507 for 57 trips, including $48,626 for family and staff members who accompanied the travelling officials; and (8) military aircraft operating costs totalled $774,000 for 35 trips that involved solely political or personal activities, and related reimbursements, made in accordance with White House policy totalled $61,585.