Corporate Giants Soar Green: Almost half of the 217 global firms surveyed achieved a remarkable feat in cutting their business travel carbon emissions by over 50% between 2019 and 2022. Published analysis on Monday reveals a stark contrast in the rebound of corporate air travel compared to leisure flights since the pandemic’s onset.
Despite the global recovery, business travel has lagged behind 2019 levels, as corporate clients increasingly opt for video conferencing and rail trips over traditional flying. This evolving trend has implications for corporate relationships, according to global business travel firms, while environmentalists applaud it as a crucial step toward minimizing overall emissions.
Advocacy group Transport and Environment emphasizes the need for a 50% reduction in business travel from pre-COVID levels by the end of the decade to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Tech giant SAP, accounting firm PwC, and financial institution Lloyd’s Banking Group stand out as major players leading the charge, achieving reductions exceeding 75% in corporate air travel emissions compared to 2019. The Travel Smart Emissions Tracker analysis underscores the impact of their efforts.
“The way forward is collaboration with more online meetings, more travel by train, and less by plane,” asserts Denise Auclair, Travel Smart campaign manager, signaling a paradigm shift in corporate travel norms.
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However, the study also reveals a counter-narrative, with 21 companies surpassing their 2019 flying levels. L3Harris, Boston Scientific, and Marriott International notably increased their carbon emissions by more than 69% compared to 2019. Despite repeated requests for comment, these companies remained silent on their divergent approach.
Airlines express concerns that the decline in corporate travel could adversely affect their business and economic growth. Yet, robust post-pandemic consumer demand for flying has somewhat alleviated these fears.
A joint survey by American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) and the Harvard Business Review, released in September, indicates that 84% of businesses still believe in-person trips bring “tangible business value.”
Business trips, which once contributed as much as half of passenger revenue at U.S. airlines before the pandemic, face a reshaping. The industry group Airlines for America estimates that this decline has impacted the sale of high-margin premium seats and weekday flight fill rates.
In Europe, airlines like Air France are adapting their strategies, attempting to compensate for the business drop by selling more premium trips to leisure travelers. The corporate travel landscape stands at a crossroads, where reducing carbon footprints intersects with the practicalities of the bottom line.
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