Companies take cautious approach in US business-travel return

The return to the skies may take a while for US business travelers. While overall airline-passenger numbers have surged, companies look to be taking a more cautious approach. That’s one key takeaway from a survey conducted by travel analytics firm OAG. Of the US business travelers surveyed, only 62% said their company is planning air travel in the next 12 months, while 20% said their firms have no plans, and 18% said none had been specified. The delta variant is playing a role in limiting improvements, with OAG is seeing both domestic and international demand softening as the Northern Hemisphere heads into the fall. The variant has caused “a bit of a pause” on segments of business for Delta, particular business travel, CEO Ed Bastian said at a conference last week. “We were anticipating -- as we got into the post-Labor Day period -- seeing another step-up in business travel,” Bastian said. Instead, many firms have pushed business travel back into the latter part of the year or early start of 2022. “It’s probably about a 90-day plus in return to travel for that next leg-up that we were expecting to see, but it’s coming,” he said. Almost half of travelers surveyed are booking two weeks to a month in advance of flying, putting airlines in a difficult cash-flow position, OAG said. Typically, flights are booked up to 11 months before the date of travel, according to the report. <br/>