Major global companies have halved flights since the pandemic
About 50% of the world's leading companies have halved the number of business flights taken by their travelers since the pandemic, according to research by Travel Smart, a global campaign led by Transport & Environment (T&E) aimed at reducing emissions from corporate air travel.
According to the study conducted by Travel Smart, 104 of the 217 companies analyzed had reduced their business flights by less than half in 2022 compared to 2019.
The technology company SAP, with 86% less, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (-78 %) and the and consulting firm PwC (-76 %) are the companies with the largest flight reductions when comparing both years.
In contrast, some companies came very close to 2019 flight levels last year, with 21 companies flying more than before covid.
For Denise Auclair, campaign directorña of Travel Smart, “lessons have been learned from the pandemic: the way forward is collaboration with more online meetings, more train travel and less air travel," she added.
However, in his opinion it is still “discouraging that many companies still overuse flights to do business, which shows little concern for the planet. This year is the perfect time to adopt new corporate resolutions that leave behind the old days of high-flying.
In this regard, the study draws attention to the fact that171 of the 217 companies analyzed have no targets for reducing emissions from their business travel. Travel Smart urges these companies to “increase ambition and move ahead on schedule”.
It also recommends that global corporations report on the total climate impact of their business flight emissions, in addition to establishing "annual travel climate budgets" to help promote virtual meetings and rail travel ahead of air travel.
The campaign calls for a 50% reduction in overall business travel during the current day to enable aviation to be compatible with the goal of restricting global climate change to a 1.5°C increase.