Neither of those things is happening the way US airlines had counted on.
“Delaying back-to-office has an effect on business travel,” said Philip Baggaley, chief credit analyst of transportation companies for Standard & Poor’s. “It’s harder to put together a trip where you see a bunch of different clients. And company travel policy can become more cautious.”
In July, a survey of members by the Global Business Travel Association found 68% said they planned to begin business travel sometime in next three months. By August, that had dropped 35%.
“It’s a pretty dramatic change of plans,” said Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics. “We expected to see some traction from business travel in the fall. Now we’re not certain when it will happen.”
And it’s not just offices delaying reopening that is affecting the cutback in business travel. Conferences and conventions across the nation — from the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting…
