Originally Posted by
nerdbirdsjc
FWIW, the guesstimates I hear bantered about by travel industry execs and others whose livelihoods depend on some level of accuracy expect a "permanent" 20-40% decline in business traffic compared to pre-pandemic levels. And that makes sense to me -- unlike prior airline industry downturns, videoconferencing technology has become robust and inexpensive enough to provide a perfect (enough) substitute for many in-person business trips. And while a majority of business traffic will eventually return, legacy airlines have centered their business models so heavily around business travelers even the predicted shifts will result in drastic changes to the way they operate going forward.
"perfect enough" isn't the term I hear anyone use to describe how we've operated over the last 9 months. Yes, we've made the best of a bad situation, but I have yet to hear a single person in my world of work say "you know, we should keep meeting virtually instead of getting together in person." unless you are a dedicated introvert, human beings crave the company of others. While a certain percentage of business travel won't rebound, I believe it might be 20% at most.
You build trust with clients and coworkers in person, not over a video chat.