The roadwarriors, the consultants the travelling workers of the world – it’s up to us to get travel back to normal now following coronavirus.
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We Are The Motor of the Travel World
Not everyone is a fan of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, but her character, John Galt famously said that “we are the motor of the world.” For travel businesses, roadwarriors, consultants, and travelling workers are what make the business profitable and sustainable.
Many long-haul flights are started based on the economics of what the business class of the aircraft will produce. For some routes, if business class is full, the rest of the aircraft (economy, economy plus, premium economy) is gravy straight to the bottom line.
It’s the same reason why car rentals start at $10 on weekends but $50 during the week and why all of the cheapest leisure tickets require a Saturday night stay. Those are the empty flights, the empty rooms, and the idle cars that travelling workers aren’t occupying on weeks at home.
Why Now?
Travel restrictions are loosening as states re-open for business. It’s incumbent upon us to be the first back to work, the first on the front lines to help save the companies that make our work possible.
Those companies aren’t just struggling, they may go under. I had mixed feelings about government rescues applied to for-profit businesses but in almost every case, as the shutdown globally has expanded, it has not been enough.
Hertz has missed lease payments (potential bankruptcy candidate), American Airlines posted a $2.2bn loss in the first quarter which was only partially affected. United and Delta fared better, but both are discussing how limited demand is even well into the future.
But layoffs that United has discussed haven’t been finalized. There is still time. None of my clients or peers are glad to be sitting at home at this point in time, securing a meeting whether it’s inside the office or not, is not difficult. Business people have clear schedules (save the endless conference calls) for the moment and want to be out of the house.
The curve has been flattened, the health care systems have the capacity to absorb spikes in the system and by the way, hospitals need our help now too.
How Do We Safely Execute?
With great power comes great responsibility. I am not sure that travelling is equal to power, but we do carry additional responsibility. We must be safer than necessary, we must demonstrate that it is possible to re-enter the world which means being overly cautious in a visible manner.
This isn’t a stretch and perhaps not even a deviation from normal mode operations for roadwarriors. Many of us were the ones wiping down our tray tables, frequently applying hand sanitizer and never, ever, walking into an airplane bathroom barefoot.
We need to meet customers and colleagues in places that are deemed safe. Restaurants in some states are free to open up to 25% of capacity seating – they need our business and we should hold lunch and dinner meetings. Outside is perhaps the best place to meet as wind and natural distance keep us safer than recycled air indoors, so meet a client at the golf course or bring coffee to a park.
Don’t shake hands, at least, not right now. No one will be offended and this demonstrates a level of respect to the other person that shows you care about them, their family, and your own. Be considerate and understanding to those who want to still stay indoors – they may have a relative that is in a high-risk category or simply are not yet confident that the storm has passed.
Conclusion
We have an opportunity to pull ourselves out of this nosedive – there’s still time. But we need to lead the way. The frequent travellers of the world need to get back on airplanes, in hotel beds, renting cars and taking clients to restaurants. We need to prop them up for a little while and show the world that it can be re-entered safely. We must be cautious and thoughtful of how others view us out in the world. We must be an example, and if we are successful, we can make it out of this nightmare.
What do you think? Is it the responsibility of frequent travellers to rebuild the travel world? How do you plan on getting back to work?
HECK YES! This is 10000% spot on.
We cut off our own legs (you can argue if it was the right decision or not, but, I think the data shows pretty clearly now it was not)
Regardless, the sooner we get back to normal – the sooner people have money and can feed their families.
I’m on the road now.
Have been every single week.
People are REALLY appreciative.
So, I agree.
Fares are good, air traffic is climbing every week now. Americans are ready.
Book up, let’s go!
I’ll see you on the road.
“The curve has been flattened “, writes Kyle above. Unfortunately, this my not be true. In some states, the curve is worsening. Most states except NY and WA is like this. NYC may get worse as soon as people start riding the subway. It is possible and unknown if Covid19 victims can get sick again when re-exposed or if they have immunity only for 3 or 4 months. UGH.
Also some kids and young adults either die or have permanent health problems. It’s just not a problem for elderly. If you have merely high blood pressure that is controlled with a daily pill, you might be at a higher risk
Derek – I am based in Pittsburgh, it has eased here too. But the curve has flattened, it may still be rising in places last to get the virus, like Nebraska for example but as a country it has flattened. We have learned is that social distancing and these extreme measures worked (maybe too well.) Some hospitals are preparing for bankruptcy because they are void of patients, reserving all beds for COVID-19 patients but eliminating surgeries that clients have been forced to delay. We can’t continue to shut down businesses and the lives of everyone preparing for a second wave that may not come and we would be more likely to be able to handle as a result of improved preparedness and more immunity among the population.
In the whitewater kayaking world we have a name for people like you, Kyle. “Sandbagger.” Oblivious to the real risks involved and trying to downplay things and thus putting others at risk.
You say that extreme measures are the reason we flattened the curve, yet you try to justify it that we are ok now. Going right back to your old ways of wanting to throw people under the bus with your stupid herd immunity theory regarding the second wave. How did that work out in 1918?
Really, I wanted to dislike you just because, well, Pittsburgh (and I hate the Penguins). But I am disliking you more because you can be such a tool at times.
Stuart – Tell me how you really feel.
What’s the whitewater kayaking term for one who exaggerates risks above reality? For example, if you look at fatalities in New York mid-March to mid-April last year vs. this year, you’ll see that the total number of deaths rises by just 2,000-3,000. However, if you look at the causes of death (cancer, obesity, heart disease, homicide, etc.) you’ll notice that this year those are down to just a few thousand over the same period while COVID-19 has 9,000 of around 15,000. If one has hemophilia and trips resulting in a laceration then dies from loss of blood, did they die from hemophilia or tripping? The answer, of course, was COVID-19. Don’t forget that in the same period, 3,000 of those deaths were classed as COVID-19 but Dr. Brix confirmed that those patients were never even tested. The mortality rate also ignores those that had the disease but were never tested but now possess the anti-bodies. In NY, that number is found to be 10x the number of confirmed cases (reducing the mortality rate by 10x as well) and a Stanford study in California found the infection rate was actually closer to 50-80x as high as the confirmed cases, but again, no increase in the rate of mortality only decreasing the rate from 4% mortality to 0.06%.
The name we have for them is, “Alive”
Kyle, you really need to be less sloppy in your reporting of ‘facts’.
First, it is Dr. Birx, not ‘Brix’ – sloppy.
Second, the reported 10X number from NY is actually 7X – sloppy.
For the Stanford study, the test they used had an acknowledged false positive rate of 2 out of 371 samples. With this in consideration as well as with reasonable margins of error, it is conceivable that ALL the positives were false positives. You could have done some research as to how this study is being received by the scientific community but didn’t – sloppy.
Lastly, you report that the increase in deaths in NY over a period of 1 month last year to this year was JUST 2000 – 3000. Really, you conclude this isn’t as serious as people are making it out to be because deaths ONLY increased by 2000 -3000 people (with mitigation) in NY alone? Wow…
Please stop peddling this nonsense that doctors are randomly putting Covid-19 on death certificates. As a physician, it’s insulting. The idea of probable covid-19 does not mean they are randomly writing Covid-19 on death certificates. Do better.
^^^ Thank you Finirt for pointing this out. All doctors I’ve interacted with have top level ethics and would be ashamed to fake data for the sake of making a point like this.
New York City alone has 23,000 excess deaths in the last 6 weeks, from CDC stats. Let’s get the facts straight here. There are several states that are showing “normal” death counts – but if you then factor in the reduction in road deaths etc., even those ones are in excess of normal.
@Aztec
Kyle never lets facts get in way of his opinions.
I’m not a guide, but I do rock climb and your “the name we have for them is alive” comment is amazing and I’m going to steal it if you don’t mind.
Overestimate risk, double and triple check your partner because you are responsible for their safety. Keep watch on everyone climbing when you aren’t involved to help anchor or spot if needed. We’re in this together.
@Aztec/@Amazed/@Finirt – Do you trust the New York Times? Here is a link: https://nyti.ms/2VB0LDQ
Just below the headline, you will read the following:
“The city has added more than 3,700 additional people who were presumed to have died of the coronavirus but had never tested positive.”
Sorry that I stated only 3,000, it was higher apparently. If you want to dispute this fact, go ahead, the number for the NY Times is 800-698-4637.
Wow…that’s how you interpret that quote, that 3,500 more people died this year than last due to covid!!??
No, respectfully Aztec, I interpreted the data as saying that during a period where the mortality rate spiked and there were 10,000 deaths in NYC that the Times clearly states that 37% were never tested yet were added to the total. Is 37% not a significant enough number to say that the mortality rate was skewed by those who weren’t even tested? If 10,000 were dead from homicide by gun shot but 37% weren’t even checked for bullets, would that cast doubt on the 10,000 or not? For me, it would.
Everyone is chomping at the bit, Kyle. But I think you are getting way ahead of where the coming months are going to play out. Sure, there are gradual signs of wheels turning, slowly. But travel and “dinner meetings” are, in my opinion, still far off.
We are currently at, what, people flying at a level not seen since the late 1950’s or early 60’s? It’s slowly increasing but it’s going to take a long time to get to levels you even saw in the 1990’s.
Why?
1. People may be ok with starting to go back to offices with limited contact but I don’t think the majority of society is ready to jump on a plane to London for a quick meeting. I don’t see that happening at any great level until a vaccine or treatment. Even if cases are minimal the looming threat of a second wave and being caught up in it again is going to severely limit travel.
2. With the hits taken over the past months by companies, mine included, the first thing to be slashed going forward is travel. And we have an excuse not to and find other ways to work deals. We have learned a lot in the past months.
3. Driving and traveling to closer in potential deals is going to rule the day for now. Self containing in your vehicle and taking hotel precautions (no housekeeping, bringing disinfectant, etc) will be the first movement to start springing up. I am looking at all the work I can do across the east coast over the coming two months with driving. It’s not the planes so much. It’s everything else. Airports, car rentals, buses to car rentals, Uber, taxi, customs and passport control, etc etc etc. These things are far more concerning for me.
4. Where are people going to go? UK is announcing today a total closure of the border to non essential travelers with a mandatory quarantine. Europe is still essentially closed off. Asia has restrictions. Australia and N.Z. as well. Canada closed. One flight a day to Brazil from the U.S. and on and on. We might see very slow increases in domestic business travel but Intl is clearly gutted until a vaccine/treatment. Especially right now there are few countries that want Americans there.
5. Summer conferences, events and trade shows are gone. Canceled. There is nothing for road warriors to fly to like they did. And there won’t be any in the fall without a vaccine or treatment. Again, where are people going to go? Events probably account for a large portion of business travel. Even basic one on one meetings online are the new normal and far more cost effective as budgets are slashed. Companies don’t even want you in their offices for meetings now or anytime soon.
Your post is more in tune for next year. When intl. travel is fully restored. When events can happen again. When people can feel relatively safe. The looming possibility of catching this virus while in Paris for meetings and being sick and stranded there alone will not go away for anyone until it goes away for everyone.
New York City alone has 23,000 excess deaths in the last 6 weeks, from CDC stats. Let’s get the facts straight here. There are several states that are showing “normal” death counts – but if you then factor in the reduction in road deaths etc., even those ones are in excess of normal.
The timeline is different from the one I mentioned, and lasts a longer duration so if we are getting facts straight, that’s a good place to start. Second, I found a link (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8308111/New-York-City-24-000-excess-deaths-height-coronavirus-outbreak-CDC-report-finds.html) that supports your claim. However, some of the deaths are also due to people with other disease not seeking help due to leaving the hopsital beds available for COVID-19, something I don’t dispute but hard to quantify. Even the CDC can only “estimate” just north of 5,000.
Why the heck you need that business class travel? first meeting fine, but as these few months have shown you can be super-duper consultant in 80-90% of cases also through videoconferencing.
Because they need to travel frequently in premium cabins and hotel rooms to feel better about themselves?
Yes, it’s our responsibility. So START FLYING again! I am slowly starting to fly again next week. But it takes thousands and millions of people to “jump start” travel as we know it. If we all book flights and get on the planes and up in the air as soon as possible, we will contribute to service being reintroduced, lounges reopening and less flights getting cancelled.
Can you name half a dozen states that have had reduced cases for two weeks? Your rosy optimism is a little misplaced, and the states that have loosened things up (including mine) are already seeing increases. While it sucks, the longer we hunker down the better things will be be afterwards.
Christian – Cases may be increasing but not out of pace with what the hospitals can handle. That’s an important distinction. The military dispatched an emergency hospital to Washington state that went unused and was removed after nine days. The ships have been under-utilized as well, I’m unsure if they are still in place. But I know many health care workers, executives and consultants (friends and family in the business) with (I hate typing this but it’s important here, “literally”) zero patients and that includes in places like Nebraska where cases are rising. If you have a 500 bed hospital in Omaha with just dozens of patients, rising cases is not the same as having an issue with the curve. Further, it will only be a matter of time before those two are decreasing as well.
Stupid post, this blog should close up like J Crew.
John – Shutting it down, thanks for the suggestion. Can I interest you in some pleated khakis?
Most of my friends who travel for work every week work for the deloittes, McKinseys, pwcs, bcgs of the world. That’s what powers the travel demand. Their companies wont let them travel (one said he’d be fired if he broke policy) and their clients won’t pay for it/ don’t want them coming into their premises (and most of their clients are working remotely too). Until that changes, there won’t be a huge resurgence in demand.
@Jason, that’s fair, however, cruise bookings are up 600% at Carnival. Many of those cruisers will need to position themselves at a port which will involve flying. I think the general public will be out there quicker than we anticipate.
https://bitly.com/2YVigR5
The article you link says that bookings were up 600% over “the last 3 days”. That number sounds big, but what were the 3 days in question (how many bookings?), and what were those bookings? Probably not very much. 600% sounds big, but if the actual number of bookings were small during the prior 3 days, then that means nothing. Certainly not enough to convince airlines to redeploy their fleets en mass.
And Carnival has sailings from a lot of port to which people can drive. There are sailings (or have been) from Baltimore (near me), New York, LA, Houston, etc etc. People can drive. 600% – off what baseline- isnt enough to get a fleet of planes flying.
Either way, the main people who do the flying and comprise the most profitable components of airlines’ revenue arent coming back any time soon. Capital One told its employees not to come back until October. Google and Amazon have told employees they dont have to come back to the office for the rest of the year. That’s the same for many other blue chip, fortune 500 companies. And accompanied with that is their travel. And again, to underline, I know plenty of people at the Deloittes, PWCS (these are two of the top travel buyers for airlines such as United and American) who wont let their consultants travel (forbidden under policy), and other consultancies who travel every week. Without that source of revenue and travelers nothing will be going forward.
Agree somewhat. Hoping to do some late summer / Fall trips. But we flyers / travel lovers & avgeeks have to do our part, not just at the airport or on the plane. We have to keep up with hand washing, social distancing (as best as possible) and mask wearing. And then do the same at our arrival destination. Show that business travel can be done with proper PPE and handwashing etc. Just take it slow, be careful, consider possible travel risks to yourself, family members, locals and co0workers. Then if you feel it is the right thing to do for you, and your destination city is open for business, go for it – travel.
This is truly astonishing – and this is coming from an airline corporate professional that has been stood down form work for the last six weeks.
I’m trying to understand where the sentiment comes from, are you so invested in a loyalty program that you feel personally responsible for committing revenue to what is essentially a multi-national corporation with thousands of investors as well as a public interest for survival? Hyping up a desire to travel amongst a frequent flyer community is a drop in the ocean.
Yes, it is important for the most frequent flyers to get back to it, but a) 90% of corporate travellers are probably bound by company policy forbidding travel and b) the gravy train of economy, premium economy and the American bastardies ‘economy plus’ will not be filling up the coffers anytime soon. Even if you were able to recruit 5-10 others to fly on a single plane, this would not make even come close in denting what is currently an incredibly cost intensive and unprofitable business. As depressing as it may be, a capitalist system will result in companies folding and the government may or may not intervene. You flying to Chicago a couple of times before June won’t make any difference, and if scaled, will just continue to spread a virus around a country that has already clocked up the highest case numbers in the world.
Finally, the public health implications are truly incredible. The astonishing arrogance in believing that wiping down a tray table or not shaking hands is a sufficient mitigation is incredible. A few business travellers electing to use a restaurant or cafe in another state that is already struggling at 25% of their normal revenue isn’t going to make a difference in the short term. The only result is a case of the virus being spread by people outside of their localities and therefore placing strain on local health resources that are already under strain.
Then again, I guess that is why the US is already on track for so many deaths. Perhaps just put your health and that of others before the need to sit in a plane or generate new blog content.
The TL:DR of this post, if I’ve read it correctly, is this: business travelers, please go back to flying so you can cross-subsidize the cheap deals and loyalty gimmicks that this little blogging community thrives on.
Corporate travelers – salespeople, consultants, bankers, etc. – have been almost universally grounded. Their companies have policies in place forbidding them from traveling. Their customers and clients are not in the office, and even when they return, they will not want vendors and third-party labor onsite. Conferences, conventions and large group meetings are done until at least 2021; the mid-level road warriors those events center on will not be flying any time soon.
Corporations have massive risk-management teams whose job is to think about this stuff. Restrictions on business travel will not be loosening for quite awhile, and when they do, it will be for serious executive-level stuff only. Do you think any company in its right mind is going to expose itself to the liability risk of mandating that its people fly during a pandemic?
So say it once more, loud enough for the folks in the back – the travel world this little blogging community knew two months ago is dead. Gone. Not coming back. Demand will return in some fashion – on a timeline none of us know and nobody has visibility into – but the experience will never again be what it was in February 2020. Some aspects may be better for loyal travelers, others will be much worse, but everyone is going to have to learn how to navigate the travel experience and a vastly changed landscape of loyalty programs all over again.
It’s absolutely pointless to urge everyone to try and patronize the airlines as soon as possible, in the hope of salvaging an experience and a business model that is dead and never returning.
Way to over-analyze the situation, James. Kyle can answer himself, but this isn’t about sustaining the LALF business model…
Wasn’t talking about the LALF business model, was referring to the airlines’ business model in general, but appreciate the snark nonetheless.
Didn’t mean to be snarky, but I don’t think a return to travel is just a self-preserving plea so we can continue to “cross-subsidize the cheap deals and loyalty gimmicks that this little blogging community thrives on.”
I want people to travel when it is safe. But, the world economy depends upon it, not this little blog I do for enjoyment.
My Fortune 500 company isn’t allowing business travel because it’s not run by stupid people (and it’s not the only one). We can do a lot over videoconferencing. Outside of NYC and some West Coast states, the US curve isn’t flat. There’s a 3 week period where a surge of infections won’t be detected, should states that are throwing open their economies be doing this too soon.
Your post might not age well by month’s end.
“My dear readers, some links on this site pay us referral fees for sending business and sales…”
“If you are considering signing up for a new credit card please click here and help support LiveAndLetsFly.com.”
Speaking of business models, have you ever done an analysis on how many of your readers click on the links or apply for new credit cards in these intentionally provocative (or ill-thought) posts? I guess you get more comments but do you actually make more money? I’m kind of thinking James S (and people who share his view) won’t be clicking on any links.
Almost all clicks come from Google visitors, not regular readers. I’d love it if regular readers like yourself clicked through, but we do find it is usually visitors. I’m still not even fully comfortable with these links, which is why you see them on so few of my own posts. But if regular readers do need a credit card, we hope they’ll consider LALF. Kyle’s positions are not necessarily my positions nor are my positions necessarily his. We realize that some issues are not popular but when we, individually, do take an unpopular position, it is because we believe strongly in it and find facts/logic to back it up. Most readers respect that, even when they disagree. I’ve long stopped trying to please everyone with a vanilla blog that merely regurgitates information. On a personal note, I thank you for reading and for taking the time to comment over the years.
Facts skewed to your argument are not facts. And Kyle is becoming quite famous for that.
There is a vast difference between your posts and Kyle’s. You attempt to bring in both sides. You understand nuance. Kyle looks to incite. He is nothing more than a more articulate version of Trump (which is not difficult).
It’s good you are loyal to your friends. But at some point one has to ask, “Is that friend becoming toxic to me?”
Which leads me to wonder, is that what you want, and Kyle is your pawn in this? Your Sunday funday of let’s mix it up?
The level of fear evidenced in these comments is astonishing. I would bet that most of the commenters have no economic fears though, and have continued to work thru the last weeks at full pay.
However, I am coming around to the idea that we must reduce all risks to zero. In that spirit, I will suggest that all travel by plane be banned going forward. Many people die each year on average in plane accidents (B737 Max anyone?) and we can definitely save these lives. The same for whitewater rafting–ban it. Autos the same-either ban them or limit max speed on any road to 10 mph. That will save more lives every year than have been lost to the virus so far. People die in restaurants every year from food poisoning-shut them down permanently. Bathtubs are responsible for many drownings, ban them and rule that every tub be removed from every residence within 3 months under penalty of jail time. Institute a Karen program for reporting non-compilers who won’t take showers.
I’m just getting started, I could go on for 100’s of pages. And every suggestion would have stats to back up the banning of the activities. If it saves a single human (maybe even non-human too) life it will be worth it, and anyone who does not agree will personally have blood on their hands.
You use whitewater rafting as an example. I am a whitewater kayaker. My choice of rivers and, when faced with a rapid that has consequences, is just that, a choice to run it or not. While it directly affects me, the choice to run that river or rapid also affects the safety of others. Should I be pinned or swim in a gnarly spot will others have to risk their life to save me? Will I end up risking more than my own life but others as well? Good kayakers, good citizens as well, know when the risk/reward is not balanced. And, right now, it’s not balanced.
Kyle is a “sandbagger.” The kind of guy who says, “Dude, all good, that river is so overrated as to dangers, all read and run and super easy.” Then you get there and it’s full on and a logged choked mess.
If you, as a leisure rafter client, chooses to go on a rafting trip you will be subject to filling out a form and signing it, you understand the risks, you also know that is why you are there, to enjoy the beauty of the river and its power but still understanding that things happen.
If you drive a car you also know there are risks but you are trained to mitigate those as much as possible and be responsible.
If you fly on a plane you fully expect that you will not be subject to a 1% chance of death should an “incident” occur. Can you imagine if people were told with every flight, and made to sign a waiver, that there was a 1% chance you could die? Or even slightly higher odds that you might be stranded and injured?
Really, thanks for the bait. You were an easy target with your horrific comparisons. Even Kyle does better trying to spin numbers towards his Trumpian agenda.
Ayn Rand used to be the darling of the crackpot right. ( “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me”). That was at a time before Faux News and reading/thinking became obsolescent.
I’ve enjoyed reading the comments but I have a few thoughts/questions:
1) My understanding that “flattening the curve” was to ensure that healthcare capacity wasn’t exceeded.
2) Virtually no health expert thinks we can “starve” the virus through quarantine/social distancing – the genie is out of the bottle
3) A vaccine is being fast-tracked but there’s no guarantee that it is entirely possible. Many other viruses have eluded vaccines for decades
So what are our options? Even those of us with steady, white-collar jobs will inevitably face some impact if overall economic activity continues to peter out. Then what?
“The roadwarriors, the consultants the travelling workers of the world”
Given that many businesses might be noting that travel might not be essential as once was, and that work can still be done, plus it’s cheaper to just have people conferencing with each other over the internet…there is no guarantee that many businesses will be putting their employees back on planes to begin with. Sure, some people might need to on site to evaluate the progress of certain projects, but how much of a percentage do they represent?
“it’s up to us to get travel back to normal now following coronavirus.”
Which will be once a vaccine/cure is found, not once the current numbers decrease, because that is just basically a lull between waves.
The same thing is said during every downturn and business travel always comes back. How long it will take? No idea, but it will come back.
If there ever, EVER was a part of my body I wouldn’t care was subjected to some “dirt” it would be the sole of my feet …
That’s not water on the floor…
I’ll be honest and tell you that I completely disagree with your basic premise, but that’s not why I’m here.
My main thing is, a lot of places are finding that all that business travel, and, even in person lunch and golf meetings are not needed. Content is delivered over the internet and everyone is functioning as is. I don’t think I will be approved for any business travel for at least a year(not that i am willing to so so anyway), and, more importantly, even if we have a vaccine, I think a lot of places are going to start asking the question of, “why can’t this be done online?” Even if someone invited me to a lunch meeting, my place of work would tell me that I couldn’t go.
I see great benefit to in-person conferences that I fly to and have always stressed that, but they are all being successfully shifted to an online format, delivering the same content. I can(and will) argue that meeting people in person allows for better interactions, more conversation, better networking etc., but I’m just not sure that’s going to fly anymore(much like people for a bit).
@Beth – I respect your disagreement and thank you for the discourse. However, I will disagree that all meetings can take place digitally. I will also mention that many business people are dying to get out of the house and relish the opportunity to interact with others outside the home.
You might want to check out the thoughtful reply of your colleague and travel blogger, Brian Kelly, of The Points Guy (TPG): https://thepointsguy.com/news/should-you-travel-tpgs-brian-kelly-weighs-in/
Sincerely,
Dale Asis