Northrop Grumman wins first E-Travel task order

Northrop Grumman Corp. won the first E-Travel task order for an online travel management service, officials of the Los Angeles company said today.

Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems unit in Reston, Va., was chosen by the Treasury Department to provide its GovTrip service under a contract worth more than $60 million over 10 years, according to Northrop Grumman.

It is the first of 24 federal agencies that will choose an E-Travel provider this year. Treasury processes about 420,000 travel expense reports annually, according to Northrop Grumman.

Northrop Grumman, EDS Corp. of Plano, Texas, and CW Government Travel Inc. of San Antonio each got permission May 17 from the General Services Administration to sell their E-Travel systems to federal agencies.

GSA manages the governmentwide E-Travel program. GSA officials expect the program to cut federal travel management costs in half over 10 years.

The companies' E-Travel systems will handle all arrangements, including booking air travel, hotel accommodations and rental cars, obtaining supervisor approvals, interfacing with agency accounting systems and reimbursing employee expenses.

Tim Burke, GSA's E-Travel program manager, said agencies have been preparing organizationally for the program for the past year, so less than three weeks after the E-Travel vendors were approved, the first agency was able to issue a task order.

"The department can now reap the benefits of E-Travel sooner rather than later," Burke said.

Northrop Grumman's subcontractors include travel agency American Express Co., which will provide reservation and fulfillment services, and Integrated Data Corp., Analytical Services Inc. and Bruin Wave Solutions LLC, which will provide information technology services.

Leo Hergenroeder, Northrop Grumman's E-Travel program manager, said the Treasury Department would implement GovTrip in phases. The first training class is under way at the department's Administrative Resource Center in Parkersburg, W.Va., he said.