Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates predicts that business travel will disappear even after the coronavirus pandemic.
“My prediction would be that over 50% of business travel and over 30% of days in the office will go away,” Gates told Andrew Ross Sorkin during the New York Times’ Dealbook conference.
Moreover, Gates believes that there will be a “very high threshold” for holding business trips now that working from home has become a viable option. However, some firms may take extreme measures when it comes to reducing in-person meetings than others.
During a new podcast, Gates said, that he has a “simpler schedule” due to the Covid-19 pandemic now that he does not have to travel for business.
“We will go to the office somewhat, we’ll do some business travel, but dramatically less,” Gates said.
Impact of travel decline on airlines
In October, airlines and airports globally called for a fresh government aid package to help in the recovery of the struggling aviation industry.
Aside from additional government aid, airlines and airports around the world are also asking for current quarantine arrangements to be replaced with a new testing regime. They argued that without both, the industry is on the brink of collapse.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), airlines globally are expected to report a fall in revenues this year amounting to $418 billion.
Meanwhile, Airport Council International (ACI) World claimed that airports would experience a decline in income of around $104 billion.
IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac pointed out that financial aid packages granted by earlier this year by various governments to their respective aviation businesses were designed on the assumption that by this time, a recovery would be well underway.
De Juniac added that it was not the case currently and that the industry was still suffering deep “financial trauma”. He argued: “Without a second tranche of financial aid, many airlines will not survive the winter.”
On the other hand, ACI world director general Luis Felipe de Oliveira said that a similar financial pressure is also being experienced by airports. De Oliveira claimed: “We could see airports going bankrupt in a very short period of time.”
He explained: “ACI and IATA are aligned in calling for urgent government action to introduce widespread and coordinated testing of passengers to enable quarantine requirements to be removed.”
“Without this action, it is not an exaggeration that the industry is facing collapse”, he added.
In October, US carrier United Airlines has posted its third large quarterly loss of the year, as the coronavirus pandemic took a toll on air travel demand.
The losses were primarily attributed to the dramatic decline in air travel due to measures implemented to address the coronavirus pandemic. The decline in demand for air travel has affected the aviation industry as a whole.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), airlines globally are expected to report a fall in revenues this year amounting to $418 billion.
Meanwhile, American Airlines net loss reaches $2.4 billion in the third quarter as the coronavirus pandemic slows down travel demand.
The airline company’s revenue fell by 73% in the three months ended Sept. 30 to $3.17 billion from $11.9 billion a year earlier.
