Of all the “new normals” that the pandemic brought us, one that stubbornly continues to linger is the downturn in business travel.For a time while COVID was at its height, in-person meetings, once seen as essential, were entirely replaced by the ubiquitous video conference. And in the years since, many companies have continued to realize […]
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Of all the “new normals” that the pandemic brought us, one that stubbornly continues to linger is the downturn in business travel.
For a time while COVID was at its height, in-person meetings, once seen as essential, were entirely replaced by the ubiquitous video conference. And in the years since, many companies have continued to realize the savings from the ability to hop on a laptop rather than a plane to connect with both colleagues and clients.
Kevin Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), said 2023 was a year of continued recovery for air travel in general, and at the state’s largest hub, Bradley International Airport.
“We captured back a lot of our pre-pandemic traffic,” he said. “But if you look at where we’re at right now, on any given day we’re still about 5% to 7% below where we were pre-pandemic, and a good portion of that is related to this business travel component.”
Overall passenger traffic at Bradley Airport, from January 2023 through November 2023, was up 8.1% from 2022, but 7% behind pre-pandemic 2019, according to CAA data.
A survey of employers released in 2023 by Deloitte did show growth in the sector, and predicted that business travel could see full recovery to pre-pandemic levels by late 2024.
But the same survey showed that many companies are continuing to eye their travel budget as a place where they can cut costs and increase sustainability by reducing employee trips.
When travel does happen these days, it’s more often short range — managers are approving trips within driving distance rather than shelling out for flights.
“We have felt all along that despite the fact that business travel across the board was down during the pandemic, those companies that have external customers would have to return to business travel,” said Dillon.
“But it’s the intra-company travel — for example, a company that’s headquartered here in Connecticut, but has operations on the West Coast — are their employees going to travel to interact with their peers, or are they going to continue to do that via Zoom and other platforms?” he said. “That, I think, is the big question.”
Private aviation’s appeal
The recent unreliability of the airline industry in general has been a drag on business travel’s recovery, experts said.
“Their schedules haven’t kept up, their reliability hasn’t kept up,” said Doug Gollan, who writes about the private aviation industry. “There are all sorts of different issues impacting airline service.”
“With flights booked to the gills, if you miss your connection at a hub or your flight is canceled, it’s not arriving at your destination an hour later, it’s ‘we can’t get you there till the next day.’”
Gollan runs a subscription database that shows his clients flexible ways to access travel by private jet, including memberships, charters and jet cards that allow companies to buy a certain number of flying hours.
He said of the subscribers to his service who are just starting to consider their options, “over 60% of them say the reason that they’re looking to fly privately is a bad airline service.”
Private jet use had seen a steady rise in the decade before the pandemic. In the last three years, that increase has been more dramatic.
By some accounts, overall private jet use in the U.S. has increased by 20% over 2019 levels.
Gollan said more company executives began to realize the convenience of private aviation during the pandemic.
“Time is money,” he said. That’s led to what Gollan calls “situational use” of private jet travel by companies. “If there’s two things private aviation does, it saves you time, and there’s no such thing as lost baggage.”
The trend is observable even at a smaller commercial airport like Bradley, which saw a 22.4% increase in private jet flights between 2000 and 2002.
The airport hosted 12,346 private flights in 2022, and 11,953 in 2023, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
And those numbers may get a boost in the near future: Bradley just announced a major deal with New York-based private jet service company Sky Harbour to build a $30 million hangar complex at the airport.
The deal encompasses the construction of five private hangars that will include lounge and office space, together totaling about 92,000 square feet.
Sky Harbour’s Chief Financial Officer Francisco Gonzalez said the company’s interest in Hartford stems from a significant deficit of hangar space for private aviation in the tri-state area.
“The business, in terms of demand for business aviation, continues to grow,” Gonzalez said. “And where do you put all these planes? Bradley is a great airport in terms of its location.”
Gonzalez said the makeup of the clientele at Sky Harbour’s sites around the country varies widely, but he expects Bradley to house a significant business presence, including “some corporate fleets who right now may have their planes all over this region. They’re looking for a good, business-friendly airport to consolidate their operations. And, we will be providing them with the opportunity to have the real estate that they need to accomplish that.”
Regional shortage
Sky Harbour’s development will join fixed-base operators Atlantic Aviation and Signature Aviation, which also host private jet facilities at Bradley.
The CAA’s Dillon confirms that the shortage of hangar facilities regionally is benefitting not just Bradley.
“These are very expensive aircraft; people want them inside a hangar facility versus parked on a ramp area,” he said. “A lot of the activity that’s been brought to some of our general aviation airports — Waterbury-Oxford comes to mind — is activity that was over at Teterboro Airport in New York, but because of the congestion at Teterboro and the lack of hangar space, those aircraft have relocated.”
Waterbury-Oxford is also in the middle of an investment deal with private aviation company Clay Lacy, which is building a new $40 million full-service, fixed-base operator and corporate hangar facility. It is due to open later this year.
Dillon said the expected relocation of private aircraft attracted by the new investment at Bradley will be good for the local economy all around.
And, while the dynamics may be changed and the improvement is slow, he remains hopeful that a full recovery for business travel more broadly remains in the cards.
Part of that confidence was reflected in the Connecticut Airport Authority and MetroHartford Alliance recently announcing plans to recruit a direct flight from Bradley International Airport to London, an effort that will likely require a revenue guarantee from the state and strong backing from the business community.
“We do meet with travel managers of some of the area’s largest employers, and I think they have indicated that business travel is resuming, that in 2024 it’s going to continue to be restored,” Dillon said.
