As Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano continued to pump flight-halting ash into European airspace, travel buyers and suppliers attending the Association of Corporate Travel Executives Global Education Conference brainstormed strategies to manage travel in the face of unprecedented disruptions.
"We've had several wars, massive terrorist threats, diseases and all kinds of things, but none of them even came close to the effect of a 3,000-year-old volcano," incoming ACTE president Chris Crowley said. "If it continues to grow, we will see a major effect on the cost of the airlines and the ability of the airlines to maintain certain routes."
During a press briefing at the conference, Crowley said the organization is preparing a white paper to "crystallize lessons learned" from the eruption. The research will look at ways travel managers can react to airport closings, methods of communicating with stranded travelers, criteria for when to open airspace and how to work as an industry to cover cost in such disruptions.
Recognized for her efforts in enhancing hotel rate-loading accuracy and using a mobile platform for traveler communications with ACTE's Advancing the Industry Award during the conference, Maria Chevalier, Johnson & Johnson's global director of travel and meetings services, led an interactive session on lessons learned in the aftermath of Eyjafjallajokull's ash, which will be used by ACTE and International SOS Assistance to create the white paper and a LinkedIn forum on the topic.
Chevalier noted that J&J had 1,100 stranded travelers during the April eruption, with a financial impact in the millions, while industry estimates put the cost of the first six days of the shutdown at $1.9 billion.
Sifting through the ashes of the disaster, session attendees talked about what worked when the skies didn't. Meeting at tables designated for discussing specific aspects of the crisis management process, there was a great deal of consensus. Preferred suppliers generally came through. While there were hotels that gouged, many others accommodated their guests beyond their original reservations. Credit card issuers raised limits to accommodate longer-than-usual stays. Security firms and travel management companies helped identify employee whereabouts and communicate the most effective strategies for addressing the situation.
Many companies found that the best strategy was to tell travelers to stay put, ensuring their safety and shelter. Many also found that frequent communications and multiple contact points were essential.
Of the things participants said didn't work, some cited gaps in TMC reporting and a high level of no-shows at airlines. Many cited call lines that couldn't support the volume, less visibility into the impact on their travelers over time and the fact that not every traveler carries communications devices with international capabilities.
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