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Business travelers’ role in generating carbon emissions within the aviation industry is extensive, and the future of decarbonized global travel will undoubtedly revolve around finding easy and environmentally-conscious ways to get those traveling for work to their destinations. According to research from the Environmental & Energy Study Institute, around 10% of US carbon emissions come from commercial aircraft or business jets, far outpacing the amount of carbon emitted by commercial and business aviation in other developed nations.
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Business jets, which almost always have astronomical per-passenger carbon outputs, account for a smaller portion of overall emissions than commercial aircraft. While many commercial airlines operate route networks that cater to the needs and demands of leisure travelers, the largest global airlines, such as American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, are primarily focused on serving business travelers.
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Helping business travelers, whether it be those on scheduled commercial flights or those on private business aircraft, find the most sustainable itinerary given their current travel requirements is essential for reducing the amount of carbon emitted by business travelers, and, by extension, the entire aviation industry. With so much attention currently on the carbon emissions from business travel, Simple Flying decided to sit down and speak with two industry leaders who are paving the way for a future of sustainable corporate travel.
Two leaders of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) believe information is the key solution for short-term sustainability in business travel
Over the past few weeks, Simple Flying has spoken to two leaders of the GBTA in an attempt to understand what the pathway to sustainable business travel might look like. The first of these individuals is Mark Cuschieri, an executive at a major financial institution who now serves as the president of the organization. The second of these interviewees was Delphine Millot, the current Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Sustainability.
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Mark, a veteran of the corporate travel industry for more than thirty years, first worked for buy-side financial firms and currently serves as the Global Head of Travel and Expense at the GBTA. Throughout his extensive tenure at the GBTA, Mark served first as the organization’s regional head for the United Kingdom and later as the GBTA’s chair for all of Europe, before taking on the mantle of president.
Delphine currently oversees the GBTA foundation, a subdivision of the greater association that oversees mentorships across the industry and helps push toward the long-term goals of business travel, whether it be in the business aviation sector or on regularly scheduled commercial flights. The foundation as a whole focuses extensively on long-term initiatives to help decarbonize aviation while keeping the business traveler’s needs in mind.
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The organization aims to help companies create reliable systems to evaluate their sustainability metrics, ensuring their employees can travel for work while reducing their carbon output as much as possible. The GBTA Foundation collaborates with everyone from suppliers to providers of travel, such as airlines, hotel companies, booking platforms, online travel agents, and other companies, typically by working directly with these firms’ Chief Sustainability Officers.
Across the board, the GBTA has the difficult task of helping employees increase compliance with sustainability guidelines, which can be difficult as business travelers often prioritize convenience over carbon output. When the GBTA first emerged, it did so in an attempt to help create a clear pathway forward for the continued decarbonization of business travel.
Extensive data analysis will be a key piece in helping business travelers continue to prioritize sustainability
Across the board, business travelers do want to make travel decisions that will reduce their long-term carbon emissions. However, there currently exists a lack of accurate information regarding the correct amount of carbon output that results from a given trip. According to both Millot and Cuschieri, data will ultimately be the key to a pathway toward a sustainable future for business travelers. Passengers must be able to access an appropriate flow of information regarding business travelers, one which would allow them to understand the potential environmental impact of their trip.
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The corporate travel environment often creates a lack of information, as bookings are made through private corporate travel booking tools where the business traveler may not always be able to adequately survey their carbon emissions and all the different options they might have. Furthermore, companies will also often have deals directly with airlines themselves or with booking platforms, meaning that corporate travelers will often have even fewer options.
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Across the board, the GBTA’s efforts are focused on helping make marginal improvements in the sustainability practices of companies across the globe. According to Cuschieri, the level of market maturity when it comes to sustainability is significantly higher in Europe, with government regulatory requirements being higher, especially for business travelers. In the United States, companies that choose to pursue sustainable initiatives are often rewarded for doing so, while in Europe, on the other hand, corporations that fail to meet sustainability targets are punished.
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Every company has its own ESG standards, making it difficult to create uniform guidelines for employees across a variety of employers. Throughout our extensive discussions with both Cuschieri and Millot, it became extremely clear that standardizing industry regulations is essential. Cuschieri further went on to underscore the importance of helping every possible company improve on its current environmental impact, stating as follows:
“Everybody is on a journey. The little that we do today is more than what we did yesterday.”
Pushing companies to make the right decisions in the short run will help the industry as a whole in the long run
In the short term, helping passengers make marginally more environmentally friendly decisions may not be a major leap in the right direction. As both GBTA leaders were quick to note, the long-term sustainable future of business travel will involve the large-scale adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technology. In the meantime, however, marginal improvements will make a major difference.
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Millot discussed the need for corporations to reward airlines and other travel industry players for pursuing sustainability initiatives, especially the investment in next-generation aircraft capable of performing SAF operations. When discussing the importance of sustainable procurement as a key catalyst, Millot had the following words to share:
“We are pushing them to ask airlines the right questions. We are pushing them to understand their sustainable strategy as an airline.”
To help passengers abide by such environmental standards, the GBTA has a list of questions that it encourages every business traveler to evaluate before booking. The answer to these questions can help guide booking decisions and allow them to be sure of the long-term impacts of choosing low-carbon options.
Many times during our discussion, Millot referenced the GBTA’s collaboration with Travalyst, a travel industry non-profit founded with the support of Prince Harry to help travelers of all kinds (not just those traveling for work) evaluate the environmental impacts of their journey. Carbon pricing will also allow business travelers to place a direct monetary value on lowering greenhouse gas emissions. For example, this could encourage them to book a direct flight instead of a stopping one, even if it were more expensive.
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So what’s the bottom line?
At the end of the day, the GTBA’s work is far from done. The organization continues to support organizations that help provide business travelers with reliable information regarding the carbon impact of individual travel itineraries. However, the conversation regarding how to create long-term change is significantly harder.
Photo: Vytautas Kielaitis | Shutterstock
Attempting to convince companies to strictly enforce sustainable travel policies can be significantly challenging, especially with no regulatory scrutiny encouraging them to do so. However, organizations like the Global Business Travel Association are continuing to play a major role in ensuring that at least some progress is made.
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Overwhelmingly, the onus to ensure that sustainability remains a priority for all airlines and corporations lies with the government and with advocacy organizations like the GBTA, without which companies and air carriers would not have an incentive to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. Until the economics of SAF become manageable for airlines, organizations like the GBTA will need to continue encouraging passengers to factor carbon output into their decision-making process.