Airlines reboot as COVID-19 sparks revolution in one-day business trips

Airlines reboot as COVID-19 sparks revolution in one-day business trips

Airlines around the world are ripping up schedules and bringing in new flights to cope with a COVID-triggered trend in corporate travel for executives like Jerome Harris - the scrapping of one-day business trips in favor of longer stays.For Sydney-based Harris, exhausting one-day treks to Melbourne or Brisbane - meaning four taxi rides, two flights, extended waits and the risk of delays - are no more after a pandemic-driven reassessment of his travel habits.

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Industry data show business travelers are taking longer trips than before COVID-19, leaving airlines adjusting flight plans. Environmental concerns, rising ticket prices, increased flight cancellations amid staff shortages and a boom in online videoconferencing are all undermining the single-day trip option as an industry standard.“I’m happier to save the effort and the carbon and do a few days in a location and have time to meet up with multiple people and visit multiple projects,” said Harris, who works for an infrastructure company.Corporate travel agency CWT said in global terms, the proportion of one-day domestic trips has fallen by more than 25 percent compared with 2019 levels as online meetings grow in popularity.In markets