The Economist - UK (2022-03-26)

62 Business TheEconomistMarch26th 2022

out pressing the flesh (or at least bumping

fists) it followed suit. 

If you do pack that suitcase, your desti­

nation  is  likelier  to  be  domestic.  As  with

leisure travel, long­haul trips for work are

recovering more slowly. A poll of over 450

companies by the gbta in February found

that  two  in  three  had  restarted  domestic

trips but fewer than one in three had done

so for cross­border journeys. 

Domestic  trips  in  America,  which  ac­

counted  for  nine  in  ten  American  cor­

porate  excursions  in  2019,  according  to

Bernstein,  a  broker,  will  increasingly  go

ahead.  So  will  short­haul  hops  between

European  cities,  which  in  2018  made  up

two­thirds  of  eubusiness  trips.  Until  the

latest covid flare­ups the same looked true

for  flying  in  China,  where  business­travel

spending fell by far less than the global av­

erage in 2020 and was recently forecast to

grow  by  double  the  global  average  in  2021

(though  Chinese  borders  remain  impreg­

nable to most outsiders). 

Your  fellow  passengers  will  dispropor­

tionately  work  for  smaller  companies.

American  Airlines  reckons  that  travellers

from smaller firms are back to 80% of their

pre­covid numbers. The comparable figure

for  big  firms  is  40%.  One  reason  is  that

small  businesses  mostly  send  people  on

those popular domestic routes. Another is

that they may be a bit more relaxed about

their  workers’  wellbeing.  Vik  Krishnan  of

McKinsey,  a  consultancy,  says  that  the

pandemic  has  prompted  travel  managers

at big companies to feel a heightened sense

of their duty of care to employees. 

Fight for flight

Getting  a  trip  approved  is,  then,  getting

harder  than  before.  A  recent  survey  of  170

North  American  corporate­travel  manag­

ers by Morgan Stanley, a bank, shows that

budgets in 2022 are expected to be 31% be­

low  the  level  of  2019.  In  the  short  run  ap­

proval may get harder still. On March 15th

Ed  Bastian,  chief  executive  of  Delta  Air

Lines, told the Financial Timesthat the war­

induced spike in the oil price “will no ques­

tion”  raise  ticket  prices  on  both  domestic

and  international  routes.  Other  airline

bosses doubtless have similar designs. 

Even  if  your  supervisor  signs  off  on

your  trip,  you  will  find  it  harder  to  plan.

The world’s airlines are running at around

two­thirds of their pre­covid capacity. That

means  less  choice  on  times  and  fewer  di­

rect  flights,  notes  Richard  Clarke  of  Bern­

stein.  The  problem  is  not  confined  to  fly­

ing. The scrapping of the 5.40am Eurostar

train  from  London  to  Paris  forces  execu­

tives to arrive the night before in order to

strike  that  morning  deal  over  a  croissant

and café au lait.

Once  on  the  road,  the  experience  isn’t

what it used to be, either. With many exec­

utive  lounges  yet  to  reopen,  the  weary

manager  must  seek  refuge  at  a  noisy  res­

taurant—or worse, since plenty of eateries,

too,  remain  shut,  on  a  bench  in  the  con­

course  within  earshot  of  a  disaffected  in­

fant.  At  many  airports  you  will  also  still

need  to  wear  a  mask.  Although  London’s

Heathrow  and  a  few  other  airports  have

lifted mask requirements, America’s feder­

al mask mandate has been extended until

at  least  April  18th.  In  the  past  year  the

Transportation  Security  Administration

has  fined  nearly  1,000  unmasked  travel­

lers,  so  you  ignore  the  rule  at  your  peril

(and good luck expensing that fine).

On board the plane you may find your­

self in economy class more often, and not

merely because of the rising air fares. Some

climate­conscious  airlines  are  already  re­

configuring  planes  with  fewer  business­

class seats (whose emissions per occupant

are three times those of an economy seat).

ceos of large companies will be sad to hear

that first­class seats, which are even dirti­

er, may disappear for good. 

In  the  air,  expect  to  be  served  by  cabin

crew draped in personal protective equip­

ment  (especially  in  Asia,  which  remains

more  concerned  than  the  West  about  hy­

giene). You, too, must keep your mask on,

unless you are consuming food or drink (of

the non­alcoholic variety on American Air­

lines,  which  will  only  restart  in­flight

booze  sales  in  mid­April).  At  least  hot

meals  are  back;  as  recently  as  last  month

even  first­class  passengers  on  American

and  Delta  had  to  do  without  such  suste­

nance on domestic flights. 

Over  the  longer  term,  the  news  for  the

itinerant executive isn’t all bad. The intro­

duction  of  touchless  technology  and  on­

line check­in for flights and hotels should

speed  up  travel  a  little  (at  least  once  pan­

demic  paperwork  such  as  passenger­loca­

tor  forms  and  vaccine  certificates  no  lon­

ger needs verifying). With many planes sit­

ting idly on the tarmac as a result of covid­

related  cancellations,  some  airlines  used

the opportunity to spruce them up. Austra­

lia’s  Qantas  has,  for  example,  modernised

its fleet of a380 superjumbos by installing

comfier seats for premium passengers.

SingaporeAirlineshasupdatedthecabins

onsomeofitsshort­haulfleet.

Thefewwhogettohitcha rideona cor­

poratejetarealsobecominga bitlessse­

lect. Business­jet traffic has recovered

muchmoreswiftlythancommercialavia­

tion.Accordingtowingx, a consultancy,

Januarywasthebusiestmonthever,with

thenumberofflights15%higherthanin

January2019.Ina surveybyMorganStan­

ley,11%ofrespondents said theirfirms

wouldbemoreliberalwiththeuseofbusi­

nessjetsin 2022 thantheywerein2021.

Chronicjet­lagmaybecomea thingof

thepast.Withlong­haultravelstillcon­

stricted, firms are reportedly opting to

sendexecutivesonfewertripsthatstretch

tomoredays.Unseemlydisplaysofcor­

poratemachismo,suchasflyinghalfway

acrosstheworldforone shortmeeting,

mayneverreturn,nodoubtpleasingevery­

oneconcerned.

And many of those longer trips are

combiningworkandplay.MorganStanley

sees evidenceat American hotel chains

thatThursdaysandSundaysarebecoming

morepopularwithguests,suggestingthat

some workersmay be movingtrips to­

wardsthestartoftheweekoritsend,to

blendworkwithpleasure.Suchtripshave

becomecommonenoughtoearnanugly

moniker,“bleisure”.DannyFinkelofTrip­

Actions,a firmwhichhelpsothersmanage

businesstravel,saysthiscouldappealto

thosewhoapproveexpenses,too:weekend

flightsareoftenmuchcheaper,offsetting

thecostofextranightsata hotel.

Perhapsthebestnewsforthebedrag­

gledbusinesstravelleristhatsometrips

simplywon’thappen.JarrodCastleofubs,

a bank,notesthat40%ofbusinesstripsare

tomeetclientsandanother40%involve

internal meetings. Conferences, exhibi­

tionsandthelikemake uptherest.He

reckonsthatperhapshalfoftheintra­com­

panyjaunts,especiallyfortrainingorget­

togethersbetweennon­c­suiteexecutives,

areexpendable.Thatmeansa fifthfewer

tripsoverall.Nogrumblingthere.n

Back in the air

Business travel spending , worldwide, $trn

Source: Global Business Travel Association

1

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

2005 10 15 20 25

FORECAST

Tripped up

“Thinking about your company, how has the

coronavirus impacted business travel?”

% responding, by share of trips cancelled

Source:GlobalBusinessTravelAssociation

2

100

80

60

40

20

0

2020 21 22

None

A few

Some

Most

All