The welcome end of same-day business return flights

Technology, cost-cuts and climate change are at last curbing out-and-back work flights

The demise of the same-day, round-trip business flight has been a long time coming, despite initial concerns about its impact. This week, Suzanne Neufang, CEO of the Global Business Travel Association, noted that the one-day business trip "disappeared at the beginning of Covid and hasn't really come back.

Key takeaways

• Professional services firm EY, which has banned same-day flights in its travel policy, reports that such trips have dropped from 18 percent of all flights in 2019 to just 3 percent in 2023, contributing significantly to a 59 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with business travel.
• The real beneficiaries of this shift are lower-level employees, who were often forced to take short-haul flights early in the morning and return 15 hours later in a misguided attempt to avoid the cost of an overnight stay.
• The toll of such travel is undeniable. It's time to recognize that the focus of any meeting should be on effectiveness, not speed or physical presence.

Get the full story at the Financial Times