Disruption #32: A Mounting Travel Scramble

The government shutdown already has made life challenging for some organizations when it suspended releasing timely data on employment, inflation, and other topics business leaders use to make decisions. Now it has created a new hassle: getting together with clients and colleagues in person.

Last week, government officials ordered that airlines to shed a tenth of their flights from 40 major US airports to ease the burden on air traffic controllers, who have been working unpaid since the shutdown began on Sept 30. And that may just the beginning, with government officials forecasting that there may be a 20% reduction of flights if the shutdown drags on. Even at the 10% figure, that’s a cancellation of 4,000-5,000 flights a day, leaving business travelers—and their firms—in a bind just as they are trying to close end-of-year business. “This is absolutely top of mind,” says Stephanie Broadright, Korn Ferry senior client partner specializing in recruiting revenue leaders.

To be sure, if the government shutdown ends travel service could be restored to normal quickly, but for the moment, business travellers have been sent scrambling. It may have shut down during most of the pandemic, but business travel has returned as an essential part of corporation operations. Business travel spending is nearly back to pre-pandemic spending levels after accounting for inflation. About 1.1 million people travel for business in the US daily, and business air travel counts for 30% of total air travel revenue, The flight cancellations come just as the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving become packed with not only one-on-one business meetings, but also several massive conferences. For example, more than 12,000 real estate professionals, flight cancellations permitting, are supposed to descend on Houston Nov. 14 for one of the industry’s biggest annual conferences, while more than 14,000 people are expected at a supercomputer trade show in St. Louis starting Nov. 16.

Sean Swedlow, a senior client partner in Korn Ferry’s technology practice, says some people are looking at train travel or driving as backup plans for essential face-to-face functions. Others say they’re taking a wait-and-see with their travel plans but setting up virtual meetings, just in case.

Indeed, the pandemic experience forced many businesspeople to adjust to do meetings virtually. Thanks to technological advances, scratchy-sounding conference calls and glitchy video meetings are few and far between. But many businesspeople still prefer face-to-face interactions, believing that the ability to read body language, share meals, and interact in the same physical case often leads to deeper connections and business outcomes. “We know virtual meetings are less impactful,” Broadright says.

The need for agility has, of course, become the norm for companies, in a year already filled with disruptions from two wars, multiple tariffs, and massive AI changes. In this case, though, the only option may be the simplest. Some experts suggest that businesspeople just make online meetings the primary plan until travel gets back to normal. “The risk and wasted time is not worth it,” says Brian Bloom, Korn Ferry’s senior vice president for global benefits and mobility operations.

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