Photo: Martin Barraud/Getty Images As America hurtles toward a post-pandemic future, some pre-2020 customs won’t survive the transition. Chief among those up for re-evaluation: business travel. On the latest Pivot podcast, Scott Galloway and Kara Swisher discuss whether the corporate-funded journeys of the past make sense anymore.
Swisher: Yeah, agreed. What would be interesting to see is if US airlines actually changed their practices, like in terms of how they behave and operate their businesses. Also, I just talked to Airbnb’s Brian Chesky for Sway coming up. He has pivoted his business, obviously. But that business will go right up. They’re seeing an upsurge in traveling, he said. Not internationally yet, but in the country.
Swisher: That is precisely what Brian said. He said he doesn’t think business travel is going to come back like it was. He talked about Airbnb’s own headquarters, that they have these beautiful headquarters. And he’s like, I rethink everything now. Not that he’s not going to make it available if people want to go in. But it’s going to be a much different strategy. At the same time, he feels like most of the investments his company makes should be in consumer travel.
Galloway: Well, it’s two different issues there, how airlines reinvent themselves. But I think it’s a big question for society and for all of us as individuals, as it relates to our professional and our personal lives, our relationships, our behaviors. A crisis is a terrible thing to waste. And what I say to my kids and my students is “Ask yourself, what are you going to leave behind?” I mean, there were parts of the country where emissions were down 20, 30, 40%.
karaswisher profgalloway Yes. Except for tech companies, who started with home office ages ago, now the model arrives in public servive areas – Boston MA makes an official start :