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Not Another 9/11 Retrospective
Power Trip · August 23, 2002

Tempted as I am to add my voice to the chorus of Sept. 11 retrospectives, I'd rather dwell on the present — and the future — for us road warriors.

Yes, the terrorist hijackings of 9/11 affected business travelers in ways that most people can't understand. Maybe you have a favorite seat on the Boeing 757, the type of aircraft that flew into the Pentagon and crashed into the western Pennsylvania countryside. Or maybe you knew someone who worked in the World Trade Center. I did.

How could we not take the terrorist attacks personally?

Still, as business travelers, I believe it's even more important to look at where we are now - and where we're going. We have to move on.

Conventional wisdom says business travel has never been worse, that cost-cutting and a weak economy have ruined a way of life for road warriors. Hotels are struggling to turn a profit. Airlines are going bankrupt. Security lines are longer than ever.

But the truth is, many aspects of business travel are changing for the better. Consider:

Hotels are working hard to make us like them. Really hard. Only a few years ago, the major chains were doing their darnedest to squeeze every penny out of us. Now they're bending backwards to please us. For example: Wyndham International's recent move to offer free local and long-distance phone calls, free high-speed Internet access and free copying and faxing privileges to its frequent guests. No wonder there's been a rise in customer satisfaction ratings given to major hotel chains such as Hilton and Hyatt by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

We thought airlines would never get it — but they just might. A year ago, the major carriers still clung to a model of pricing airline tickets that charged business travelers about four times more than leisure travelers. But now carriers such as American Airlines are calling for a meaningful change that narrows the wide chasm between business and leisure fares. "We must face up to the need for some fundamental changes in the way we do business," says American's CEO, Don Carty. In March 2002, for the first time in almost a decade, the price of an average unrestricted coach-class ticket fell, according to American Express, edging down by 2%. In June, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported that the number of complaints filed against airlines was only half what they were a year ago.

Security is important, but so are you. If you read between the lines, the recent firing of the headstrong Transportation Security Administration chief John Magaw sent a message to business travelers: The government won't be turning every airport into a military airfield. That concern is echoed by Charles Barclay, president of the American Association of Airport Executives, who is worried that new federal airport security will be so tight that no one will want to travel anymore. "You have to make business travel viable in order to make it continue," he told me. "If you have to wait a couple of hours at the airport in order to make a quick trip, then why would you bother?" Look for a more accommodating security policy under the new TSA leadership.

In a previous column, I noted many of the big changes that are happening in business travel. I drew a distinction between "old" business travel, which was inflexible, agent-based and status-conscious, and "new" business travel, which is for all intents and purposes, the very opposite. Certainly, Sept. 11 was an important catalyst in the switch from the old to the more sustainable new.

Consider some of the other positive changes: Air travel is arguably safer than it was a year ago. As I write this, American Airlines is aggressively cutting business fares, a move some of its competitors have matched — more evidence that the carriers are abandoning their strategy of milking business travelers. And then there's Spirit Airlines' move to make all Sept. 11 flights free, which is a defiant gesture that tells the world we aren't afraid to fly anymore. "The sky should be full of Americans on that day," says Spirit's chief executive, Jacob Schorr.

A few post-9/11 truths

What does it mean to travel on business in a post-9/11 world, and how do you get the most from it? Where do we go from here? Here are my thoughts:

The post-9/11 travel experience isn't as awful as many say. Oh, don't get me wrong, it can be bad. I've written one column too many about grannies being strip-searched by overzealous security guards. But it's not as unbearable as you would think. We're still flying, driving and staying at hotels. The system hasn't collapsed as some critics expected it to. In some respects, it is very much business as usual. I've spoken with many past road warriors who say they now avoid travel after Sept. 11, often with their supervisor's blessing. (More than half of all travel managers surveyed after Sept. 11 said they would reduce the number of trips taken by employees, according to the National Business Travel Association.) To which I say: Business travel is no worse than it was in the late 1990s. And it may, in fact, be better than it was then.

The post-9/11 traveler is more sober, but has a terrific sense of humor. The excesses of the 1990s are history, and many of us who were accustomed to always getting upgrades might now find ourselves sitting in steerage class with the tourists. We wouldn't last past our first layover without a really good sense of humor. I've also noticed that business travelers have grown much more fatalistic since the tragedy. They know that the terrorists could strike again, and it puts what they do into perspective. I used to hate getting stuck next to business travelers on a flight, because they were often arrogant about their "experience" as travelers and condescending toward anyone who didn't have as many frequent flier miles. But since Sept. 11, I've found them to be genial and even fun.

The post-9/11 travel industry is full of opportunities. Just look at the rise of airlines like Southwest and JetBlue, low-fare carriers that have thrived after Sept. 11. In another recent column, I wrote about the increased availability of inexpensive last-minute airfares for business travelers, a trend that really took off after the terrorist attacks. Other than low airfares, what other opportunities lie ahead for travelers? I think that the travel industry as a whole is starting to realize that it can't take road warriors for granted any more — indeed, that we represent their meal ticket — and I would expect it to find new ways of showing their appreciations. That doesn't necessarily mean we'll always sleep in a concierge-floor room or drive a full-size rental car. More likely it will be smaller things, like bonus miles, gift certificates or even just a smile and a "thank you" that will make business travel more tolerable.

As we observe the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, it's appropriate that we reflect on what happened and how it has affected us as travelers. At the same time, there's encouraging evidence that we're moving forward with a renewed sense of optimism. Travel is getting better, I believe; we can see it in small ways all around us.

The 9/11 anniversary is more than an occasion to remember what happened on that day. It is an opportunity for all of us to consider a future in which travelers refuse to be grounded.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.