This month the members of our Business Travel Executive Think Tank share memories of that disaster and offer thoughts on its impact versus today’s circumstances
In each issue of Business Travel Executive, the members of our Buyer Think Tank offer their thoughts on what’s hot, what’s cool and what’s coming next in managed travel.
The Think Tank is a team of nine veteran travel managers from programs that run the gamut in size and complexity – but each member contributes a unique viewpoint. Travel Buyer’s POV brings fresh perspectives and ideas to inspire innovation and thought leadership in the corporate travel industry.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the globe, the corporate travel sector has been hard hit. Almost every business has slashed the number of trips, and many companies have halted travel altogether. In many ways the current crisis is reminiscent of the events of September 11, 2001, when terrorists commandeered jetliners to target New York and Washington.
Practically everyone who was working in the travel business then remembers that day and its aftermath. However there are important differences between 9/11 and the coronavirus pandemic.
Exponential ImpactI had started working in corporate travel two months prior to 9/11. As one could imagine, that day was a nightmare, fielding calls from loved ones inquiring if their significant other was on one of the tragic flights. No one knew why or what was happening at the time. In a matter of hours, the FAA abruptly shut down all air travel in the US – I was advised it was unprecedented and flights were forced to land prior to reaching their destinations. I recall the story of the flights from Europe to the US which had to land at the small airport in Gander, Newfoundland where there weren’t enough hotels; the residents of this small town took the passengers into their homes. Over the next few days, the people of the United States – supported by the rest of the world – came together in a sense of national unity. Flights resumed a few days later and the introduction of TSA requirements were the biggest change that resulted in travel. Granted, people were still a little nervous to fly again for years afterward, especially on the anniversary of the dayThe COVID-19 pandemic has been a completely different travel nightmare. It was a much slower process of shutting down travel – countries started prohibiting flights from certain locations over time and many corporations started banning travel in no consistent fashion. Furthermore, this pandemic has affected most of the world; many countries ceased travel altogether whereas the US still allowed some air travel. The impact for the travel industry due to COVID-19 is exponentially greater than 9/11 due to its global presence and the lack of a cure. Although travel wants to resume, we are at the mercy of circumstances, and we owe it to our population to be vigilant in protecting them as well as stopping the spread. We need newer mandates similar to TSA in 9/11 to enforce restrictions, while we rely on people to be socially responsible.
– Chris BrockmanThe Mother of ReinventionOn 9/11 I was working as a travel agent and taking calls from customers either arriving or attempting to depart the Northeast. There was an initial report of some kind of incident in New York City, but at the time we did not know the details; we just knew this would cause delays backing things up in the area. Glancing around my monitor, I could see the office television where the events of that morning and rest of the day were playing out live. The chaos of inbound and outbound calls being made, chatting between each other on strategies to move people quickly, and reporting back to companies looking for their employees, took up the rest of day and next few. To keep my feelings from overwhelming me, I dove into the work at hand to keep busy. A few months later, I lost my job along with thousands of others. We hit the bottom quickly as 9/11 was an immediate, definite series of events. Recovery was mainly based around security preparedness and restoring confidence in the safety of travel.Coronavirus is a disaster in super-slow motion which is still unfolding and changing today. It seems we are still learning what the capabilities and impacts of the virus are. Simultaneously we are making plans to fly again, staying in hotels and using ground transport, even in a limited fashion, as we must attempt to continue our businesses and go about our lives. After 9/11 the citizens came together and rallied around the bounce back to its new normal of enhanced security. People were united around the solutions. In contrast, COVID-19 has impacted each country at different levels and the response in each has been different. Travel vendors now seem ready to unify around methods and equipment to offer services. Unfortunately there isn’t the same type of rallying, leadership or unification as we saw post 9/11, thanks to political divides and even scientific splits on how best to overcome the virus and continue our businesses and lives. Long term economic impacts on all sectors of corporate travel have yet to take hold fully and will surely impact us greatly. After my layoff from my agent position after 9/11, I reinvented myself and my skills for the future just like the industry did then, and just as my company’s travel program is attempting to do now.
– David SmithCOVID-19 Knows No BoundariesThe horrific events of 9/11 impacted business and leisure travel but the abrupt stoppages were relatively short-lived. We looked each other in the eye, and were personable and polite. The events of 9/11 supported a culture of unity. Soon after, air travel resumed with newly implemented security protocols and procedures under the auspices of the Transportation Security Administration instituted by the US government. The steps taken to restore confidence were embraced with little resistance and a tolerance for the minor inconveniences of lost toiletries, bottles of water, etc. Travel managers focused on developing travel policies that adhered to the newly introduced regulations and creating risk management tools and measures. Our leisure and entertainment lifestyle was minimally impacted; Broadway, family gatherings and business meetings were paused, and hotels and restaurants were shuttered for a short period following the attacks – but soon reopened. The disparity between 9/11 and this insidious pandemic is the duration and scope. It doesn’t have age restrictions or city limits. Universities, schools and offices remain closed, with lessons and business functions performed at home. We have been able to resume meeting some of the demands by leveraging technology advancements made over the past nearly two decades.The pandemic has a far more significant social impact. It’s going to take a lot of work and ingenuity to help all types of travelers feel comfortable with the idea of moving about once again. At the end of the day, we all want to get back to restoring our physical/personal freedoms and come together in person to carry on with our lives.We can do it.
– Wendy Palmer