Problem:
Professor Andy Accrual works for a big state university. The state has negotiated a set of special airfares with various airlines for state employees to use when traveling on state business. These fares are lower, and they do not have restrictions on changing, cancellation, and so forth. Andy is aware that the airlines never check to see if he is on state business when he books such a fare. He has decided that he would like to go to Hawaii on short notice for a well-earned mini-vacation. When he checks the Internet for airfares, he discovers that the cheapest fare he can find is $700 per person. However, the fare for state employees traveling on business to Hawaii is only $400. Although he is traveling for personal reasons, in your opinion is it ethical to use the special state employee airfare for his vacation? Would this qualify as an ethical dilemma?