Originally Posted by
B747-437B
I'm presently working with a start-up organisation. As the COO, one of my main areas of focus is cost-control. This includes the travel policy, where we religiously enforce an Economy Class only rule for all employees on all travel. As a small company (~40 employees), all travel approvals come through my Inbox and I haven't yet approved any deviations.
Now the problem. I am due to travel longhaul (9+8 hrs each way) next week with our Board Chairman, plus the Chairmen of two of our major shareholders. Needless to say, the various bigwigs are booked into full-fare F class which is fine as they do not fall under our Employee Travel Policy. Their personal support team members are all booked into J class. However, as my travel is being paid out of the company travel budget, I arranged to be booked into Economy Class on the same flights.
Our Chairman however insists that I should fly at least in Business Class. He gives various reasons for this, but primarily it is an issue that he feels it gives the wrong impression for "C-level" management to fly in Economy Class.
I am very torn about this. On one hand, I don't want to make a big issue out of this with the Chairman and distract from the purpose of our trip. On the other hand though, I see this potentially undermining my ability to enforce the travel policy going forward. The route I'm flying is one that about a dozen other team members will be flying as well next month, and every single one of them will be in Economy Class. How can I justify turning down their potential requests for Business Class when I personally flew in Business?
Wondering if any folks here have any suggestions or advice?
It's not a conundrum at all. While it will cause grumbling in the ranks, the Chairman is correct. If the rest of your travel team is in F/J and you are in Y for an 8-9 hour flight, they will arrive relatively ready to hit the ground running and you will be over-tired and not up to snuff. I presume that this is an important trip for your company and having you fresh and ready to roll is more important than a little grumbling.
The Chairman's views regarding keeping up appearances are also important. Money may be tight, but your message is that things are just fine.
If you feel compelled, take one of your most trusted people into your confidence, tell him and ask him to get the word out to the troops in a positive way, namely that it was the Chairman's decision.
Hopefully the trip will be a success and you will soon be flying your people in F/J !