The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has two fixed wing aircraft (FWA) that are to be used for mission-related transportation and business travel. According to TVA Standard Programs and Processes (SPP) 32.041, Use of TVA Fixed Wing Aircraft, its FWA are to be used in support of TVA's mission and congressionally mandated programs, in alignment with TVA Board Practice the Federal Travel Regulation, and other pertinent regulatory governance. In 2018, we performed an audit of TVA’s FWA and found TVA was not complying with various federal regulations and TVA policies and procedures regarding the use of its FWA. Due to the high number of issues found during our previous audit, we performed this follow-up audit to determine if TVA is complying with applicable laws and regulations and TVA policies and procedures regarding the use of its FWA. Our audit scope included all flight legs by TVA’s FWA between January 1, 2021, and January 31, 2023.We determined TVA was not in compliance with federal regulations related to (1) performing cost comparisons, (2) obtaining management authorizations to fly, and (3) reporting appropriate flight data to the General Services Administration. Additionally, TVA was not in compliance with its policies and procedures regarding (1) approving exceptions to flight restrictions, (2) documenting flight authorizations and business justifications, (3) providing timely flight approvals, and (4) performing semi annual audits. In addition, we noted a lack of clarity in TVA policies and procedures regarding required use travel.
Open Recommendations
| Recommendation Number | Significant Recommendation | Recommended Questioned Costs | Recommended Funds for Better Use | Additional Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, develop a process to verify cost comparisons are performed in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulation as required in the Tennessee Valley Authority Fixed Wing Aircraft Standard Programs and Processes prior to scheduling fixed-wing flights. | |||||
| 2 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, update the Tennessee Valley Authority Fixed Wing Aircraft Standard Programs and Processes to align with Federal Travel Regulations to include consideration of other modes of transportation capable of meeting the travel requirement as a factor to be considered when performing economic justifications. | |||||
| 3 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, update the Tennessee Valley Authority Fixed Wing Aircraft Standard Programs and Processes to require Aviation Services to run the third-party operating cost and performance guide at certain intervals to obtain up-to-date costing information for use in cost comparisons or use historical flight data to establish a more accurate cost to operate fixed wing aircraft. | |||||
| 4 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, develop a procedure to verify management authorizations are obtained prior to use of Tennessee Valley Authority fixed wing aircraft for travelers without blanket authorizations. | |||||
| 5 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, update the Tennessee Valley Authority Fixed Wing Aircraft Standard Programs and Processes to improve compliance with the Federal Travel Regulation and provide guidance on requirements of the Office of the General Counsel approval for nonfederal travelers. | |||||
| 6 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, verify all senior federal travelers and nonfederal travelers are reported in the Senior Federal Travel Reporting semiannually. | |||||
| 7 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, work with applicable Tennessee Valley Authority groups to ensure complete and accurate Federal Aviation Interactive Reporting System data is being obtained and submitted to General Services Administration on a quarterly basis. | |||||
| 8 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, implement a process to ensure that exceptions to restrictions for allowed passengers are documented with the Chief Executive Officer and the Office of General Counsel concurrence prior to flights. | |||||
| 9 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, reinforce the requirement in the Tennessee Valley Authority Standard Programs and Processes 32.040 that Aviation Services conduct a full review of all travel related flights to ensure adequate documentation and authorization is maintained for every flight. | |||||
| 10 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, develop a process to ensure Aviation Services’ approval, and executive review, occur prior to each flight. | |||||
| 11 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, reinforce requirement to perform semi-annual audits. | |||||
| 12 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, work with the Tennessee Valley Authority Office of General Counsel and the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors to update the Tennessee Valley Authority Board Practice “Use of TVA Aircraft” to explicitly state the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Director’s intent regarding whether all travel by Tier 1 passengers should be considered required use. If the Tennessee Valley Authority Board’s intent was not that all travel by Tier 1 passengers be considered required use travel, require all requests for use of the fixed wing aircraft to identify the travel as either official travel, required use travel, or space available travel, and document the reason for the determination in compliance with Federal Travel Regulation § 301–10.261 and the Tennessee Valley Authority Fixed Wing Aircraft Standard Programs and Processes. | |||||
