Business travel patterns have shifted: American CEO

American Airlines chief executive Doug Parker says the carrier has seen business travel patterns shift amid the pandemic, and that smaller companies are now on the leading edge of the return in corporate travel. “The companies that are more nimble, that perhaps don’t have large headquarters, those that really need to do business, are doing so,” he says at the Skift Aviation forum webinar on 17 November. “Smaller companies are travelling at higher rate than large corporations.” Business travel patterns have also shifted because the way people work has changed permanently. Airlines have to be flexible and adapt, he adds. Prior to the pandemic, business travellers tended to depart on Sundays and return on Thursdays or Fridays. With the advent of video conferencing and other technologies that enable more remote work, those patterns no longer exist, Parker says. “It flattens out the peaks and allows for more and more types of travel,” he says. But in the end, he thinks business travel will return to pre-pandemic levels. “Business is a social operation, we all need to connect, and airlines connect,” he says.<br/>