Three in five business travellers report having curbed their flying habits as a result of the pandemic in a new survey by the Travel Smart Campaign conducted by Ipsos.
The survey finds that three-quarters of surveyed employees believe that an important factor for reducing a business’s carbon footprint is curbing levels of corporate flying. While most respondents are willing to make changes to their travel patterns for sustainability, and also believe they have an important role in shaping their company’s travel policies, even more, believe businesses must set corporate flying reduction targets. 71 per cent of UK employees in this survey believe that to reduce levels of corporate flying, a business must set targets and include travel policies.
Transform Scotland spokesperson Elspeth Wray said:
“An overwhelming majority of employees want their employers to take action to cut climate emissions by permanently cutting back on corporate flying. In a competitive recruitment market where companies are finding it hard to recruit and retain good staff, employers need to be seen to meet the desire from employees for action to cut emissions.
“Corporate leaders who claim to care about the climate should first examine their own flying habits, and seize the moment to pledge to keep their company’s air travel to under 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, as a key measure to cut corporate emissions.”
The survey comes at a time when there is a growing sense that lower levels of business flying are here to stay. Of those who report flying for work currently or before the pandemic, 62 per cent say they have curbed their flying habits compared to before COVID-19. [1] Only 27 per cent say that they fly as often as they did prior to the pandemic, with 11 per cent saying they are now flying more.
The pandemic has shown the ease with which business travellers can reduce corporate flying, turning to expanded choice in other low-carbon alternatives. When asked about their preference for how to reduce the environmental impact of business air travel, business travellers in this survey were most likely to say they prefer virtual collaboration technologies (46% of respondents). Less frequent flying (33%) and other means of transport (32%) received around a third of intentions.
The shift toward collaborating remotely is predicted to have a great impact on the return of internal meetings. [3] A large majority of business travellers in this survey (72%) say that they are willing to take fewer business flights for internal meetings in order to reduce their environmental impact. 67 per cent of business travellers in the survey report they are willing to plan more local meetings than global meetings, and therefore potentially avoid long-haul flights.
Paul Tuohy, Chief Executive of Campaign for Better Transport, concluded:
“Corporate flying habits have changed. This survey shows that employees want a new normal where businesses take responsibility for reducing their emissions. Just as investment in public transport is of significant benefit to the wider economy with improved access to jobs and services, businesses and employees can now see more clearly than ever that sustainable travel policies are not just better for the environment, but also better for business”.
Contacts
Colin Howden, Director, Transform Scotland on 07956 394121.
Notes to editors
[1] The survey was conducted online by Ipsos, using a sample of 2,506 adults in five countries – U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Spain. To qualify for the survey, respondents had to be employed full-time at an organization with at least 50 employees and be between ages 18-74. The sample of employees was further broken down to reflect business travelers only. Business travelers in this study refers to those that say they flew for work before COVID or currently fly for work. The sample of business travelers was 1279 people. Fieldwork was undertaken between 6 – 10 October 2022. Demographic weights were applied at the country level. The poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points for all respondents. The poll also has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points for business travelers.
[2] The sample of employees was further broken down to reflect business travelers only. Business travelers in this study refers to those that say they flew for work before COVID or currently fly for work. The sample of business travelers was 1279 people, across the UK, U.S., France, Germany and Spain, and 248 in the UK.
