"All air travel is business travel -- even people flying on vacation do so because they have good jobs."

– Former Bluegrass Airport Director Mike Flack

On the surface, getting from point A to point B seems pretty simple. After all, how many variations can there be? Well, that depends on how many As and Bs there are, how bumpy the ride is, and how quickly the deals are coming and going in the crowded business travel marketplace. Or is that number really growing? Fuel costs fell 18 percent for the year, saving the major airlines some $2 billion, the enduring good economy has kept planes fuller than ever, but, according to an article in the February 5 Business Week, Salomon Smith Barney predicted a 36 percent drop in the industry. Among the reasons: airlines raising business rates faster than inflation, and businesses cutting their travel budgets by an average of 17 percent, according to the National Business Travel Association. Unrestricted one-way fares, the type usually purchased by corporate travelers with pressing last-minute needs, rose 31 percent over the past four years. Alas, this is one sector of business where just-in-time doesn't quite cut the mustard.

A recent New York Times article points out that overall corporate travel costs rose eight percent from 1997 to 1998, and are forecast to rise from five to seven percent this year. That's because air fares, rental cars and hotels are all rising in cost. But it's mainly the plane tickets. As a result, companies are taking a second look at how and why they send people places.

In 1995, the Justice Department approved the ticket-buying plan of Business Travel Contractors Corporation, which proposes that consortiums of companies pay prenegotiated prices based on mileage over a definite length of time. Under the plan, airlines lose the high yields normally produced by business traffic.

Many are also returning to an old technology: four wheels and a highway. With gasoline prices dropping lower than ever, there may be new punch to the old axiom "where the rubber meets the road."

"Our policy is that if the trip takes less than four hours, we do ask people to drive," says Denny Wallingford, manager of office and building services and vehicle services for Toyota. "If we're going to Indiana or West Virginia, we drive."

"I commute every day from Maysville, and I use that drive time as preparation time. A traveling group can do some discussion and prep before a meeting as well. When we go visit suppliers or locations, groups will get together afterward anyway, so traveling in a vehicle will allow that also. Of our total travel dollars, vehicular travel is a small part right now, but it depends where the suppliers are."

It's a never-ending chess match between corporate travel managers, their travel agent counterparts and the always-shifting airlines. Many companies now buy their tickets further in advance, finding it cheaper to cancel than to buy late. They search the Internet for rock-bottom leisure fares. Or, as if challenged by the airlines to "buy your own plane," they do just that.

General aviation and charter activity

According to a 1996 Economist article, air travel is predicted to double over the next 15 years, with more than 50 big airports operating above their official capacity by 2011. By corollary, quite a few small airports will exceed that capacity too, including Blue Grass Airport in Lexington. So the times have never been better for the increasing general aviation and charter business.

Many firms have found that they can put five or six people on a charter, leave in the morning and get home in the afternoon, and still save both money and time. Like the ever-increasing fold of self-employed contractors in business today, the self-flying companies revel in their freedom, and travel time can be put to much better communications use than having everyone facing forward from random spots in a commercial cabin. Blue Grass Airport is looking to develop its general aviation possibilities, both in Lexington and at the Georgetown airport, which it manages. Extending Georgetown's runway to 5,500 feet gives it the capability to handle mid-sized Gulfstream-type corporate jets. Other small airports throughout the state are extending aprons and runways as well.

The upswing for the small aircraft and corporate jet industry has been occurring ever since 1994, when the General Aviation Revitalization Act placed a limit of 18 years on product liability. Prior to that, an aircraft manufacturer was liable for every plane and part it ever made. Companies like Cessna and Beech, which were already reaching record levels of deliveries on business jets, are climbing to new altitudes of production with other turboprop and piston-engine machines as well. Executive Jet Inc., the New Jersey company owned by Warren E. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, flew 145,000 hours last year, up from 95,000 in 1997. At the National Business Aviation Association convention in October, Executive Jet, AlliedSignal, Bombardier, Beech and all the other players played host to 30,000 people and unveiled a plethora of new, truly improved business jets. And just like at any other convention, people were placing orders.

Charters also often end up being a better deal for companies sending several people to a destination. If the announced fare is $900 and you can charter a plane for $3,500 (and eliminate some of the time and hassles in the process), doing the math doesn't take very long. The number of hours flown by charter planes climbed 35 percent last year, according to the National Air Transportation Association.

"We use charters quite a bit at Toyota," says Wallingford, "either for urgent situations or if the price is less than a commercial flight. We established a form several years ago to turn into accounting in order to do cost analysis to see if it's less expensive. In many cases, it is."

The Louisville and Jefferson County Regional Airport Authority operates Bowman Field as its general aviation facility, which recently surpassed 160,000 annual flight operations, a 10 percent increase in just a few years. And at Louisville International Airport, the fixed base operator facility welcomes more than the 600 aircraft that arrive during Derby week. The $8 million facility opened in 1996 as part of the airport's $700 million improvement program, and is operated by American Port Services, formerly Johnson Controls. Ford Motor Company flies F-70 jet service two or three times daily between the Louisville FBO and Detroit. Other big corporate clients include GE, Pepsico/KFC and Dow Chemical. On-site conference rooms enable some executives to land, conduct business right there and take off again.

"Executives like doing business here and pilots like flying them here," said project manager Dick Parisi, "partly because they know they'll be pampered."

Small regional airlines with a strong business focus are booming too. Of the nation's 1,000 most traveled routes, 500 lack low-fare service, according to the Transportation Department. Last March, Cincinnati-based COMAIR announced a $25 million expansion project that will include new maintenance and training facilities. Milwaukee-based Skyway and Midwest Express, with their spacious cabins and contoured leather seats, are experiencing unprecedented levels of sales. Midwest Express saw a 40percent rise in profits in 1998. Vanguard offers low-ball fares from Cincinnati to Chicago four times a day.

Thus do the airways come to resemble mass transit. But there is still room for catering to the business class. To those who only travel occasionally, the pampering may seem trifling in the big picture, but for today's perpetual motion business traveler, such details are exactly what composes that big picture.

Racking up the miles

Lexington Herald-Leader sports columnist Chuck Culpepper recently admitted his addiction to frequent flier miles, describing a harrowing and humorous ordeal as he tried to attain that premium level of miles by hopping on a couple extra puddle jumper flights. He's not alone. Frequent flier madness is a contagious phenomenon. A University of Georgia study of such practices revealed more than $4 billion in "corporate waste," as business fliers pursued their personal aloha strategies.

It started in 1981 as a marketing ploy geared toward American Airlines' favorite customers. (Hmmm, think it might work again for them?) Now the mileage nearly functions as real currency, a pet account nurtured along by thousands of transactions that have nothing to do with airplanes. In 1997, 40 percent of awarded miles were earned without leaving the ground, and now more than 17,000 businesses in the nation give away miles as their own marketing tool.

According to a New York Times Magazine article by David Noonan, 70 airlines worldwide now operate such programs, and 47 percent of the passengers on any given flight are earning mileage. We're up to over three trillion miles by now. And we redeem them at a rate of 200 billion a year.

Most businesses allow their employees to accumulate miles toward their own personal travels rather than counting them toward other business trips. While this practice counts as a great fringe benefit, loyalties between individual fliers and their airlines may sometimes collide with a company's common-sense travel policy. Most often though, companies view it as a worthy trade-off: while traveling is a privilege, it's also hard work.

"Some companies take the frequent flier miles," says Denny Wallingford of Toyota, "but we feel that while it's part of your job, it's also tiring and time-consuming, so we let those miles go to the individual traveler."

"My practical strategy for travel is that I'm flying one airline," reports road warrior Julie Anixter, director of products and services for Wyncom, Inc., an INC 500 company based in Lexington. "I'm now 1K on United," she announces with satisfaction, "and the little things about being a high-mileage flier are great. You get to board the airplane first, they take your coat, they serve you a drink, you can upgrade easily. They absolutely treat you with a degree of specialness that you really appreciate when you travel this much. They go out of their way to show you that they value you as a customer, and that's really nice."

To some, the programs simply reward loyal business travelers, who decide to use a particular airline primarily because of its flight schedule and convenience, and only incidentally because of a frequent flier bonus. Others point out that with international and vacation destination flights packed into their conglomerate arsenals, the major airlines now look a lot better to most travelers who want to cash in miles than small low-cost lines serving just a few domestic routes. It all depends on the individual, and the teeth an individual company puts into its travel policy.

Because of concerns about these issues as well as convenience, many firms are setting up in-house travel agencies to handle the company's comings and goings.

"We have an on-site travel agency that manages our travel," says Toyota's Wallingford. "We pay them a management fee, and their staff works specifically for us to find the lowest possible fares available. We also use a local travel agency in Georgetown for some of our bookings. We give the agencies copies of our policy and they help us make sure it is followed. If somebody calls wanting to fly first class -- and our first-class list is a very short one -- we ask the agency to let us know, so we can talk to the traveler and work it out ourselves."

Road warriors

Many airports are only following the lead of hotels in their efforts to cater to the business traveler. Hotels are installing or partnering with self-service centers where travelers can use PCs, send faxes or make photocopies 24 hours a day. Frequent guest benefits, sometimes complementing frequent flier programs, reward the loyal customer and track his or her every whim. Westin was recently named No. 1 among high-end hotel chains because of its focus on women road warriors. Women were just one percent of business travelers in 1970, but are projected to be 50 percent by the turn of the century.

At Westin, they've sought to please her with full-length mirrors, hair dryers, irons and more salads and low-fat meals on menus. (Which leads to the obvious question: do men only need to look good from the waist up?)

"I'm always looking for a place to plug in," says Wyncom's Anixter. "When you're working with teams, you have to have a place to check your e-mail. Some airports have them now, and some hotels do too."

But to Anixter, being on the road is as much about state of mind as it is about mints on the pillow or faxes constantly within arm's reach.

"I travel every week, usually at least two airplanes a week. People wonder how I can do it, and it's very simple: I love what I do. Enjoying your work makes the travel go much more easily," she explains. "Traveling is a privilege. I value travel as an opportunity to think, reflect and test my own stamina and commitment to 'go with the flow.' I never worry if I miss a plane, I've had luggage lost for three days -- you just try to take it in stride and laugh about it. I don't get hung up on not getting a seat or if the plane is late."

According to Anixter, you can always tell a fellow traveler: they move through airports quickly, they have a real sense of purpose, they carry bags well because they don't carry too much. Some make sure to drink a lot of water. Others put on eye shades and neck pillows and automatically zone out. As for her favorite airport?

"You can get a massage at the Denver airport. I like LaGuardia. But O'Hare is my favorite because it means I'm home."

When to go, when to stay

In re-examining travel, some firms are choosing to leave that home less frequently. Some are going the virtual route, whether conferencing by telephone, video or computer. The NBTA found that 53 percent of companies are now using videoconferencing, twice as many as three years ago. However, you can't read a person completely or show them how you feel without being there in person. At least that's the assumption under which most companies operate. Like a Japanese bow, the gesture of making the trip is a longstanding sign of one's respect for the importance of that customer, partner or project, and most companies are unwilling to part with such a tradition.

But as airports reach toward capacity, virtual meetings make sense in more ways than one -- not only limiting cost, but saving tremendous time and virtually eliminating travel-related stress, a major productivity detractor. Then again, there's the stress produced by having to talk to a speakerphone -- meeting dynamics often seem to give extra weight to virtual attendees, by virtue of their "special" mode of attending. And being alone on the other end of that line can make you feel like you're taking part, but not getting a sense of the whole.

"We're looking at anything to save costs," says Toyota's Wallingford. "We do some videoconferencing. But for good conversation, technology can be a little bit impersonal. I have always felt it was critical in negotiations to be there in person."

The many meanings of hub

Louisville International Airport is just ending the final phases of its $700 million improvement program, which included the opening of a second major runway in December 1997, allowing simultaneous takeoffs and landings and therefore doubling the airport's capacity. On the heels of these improvements came the decision by United Parcel Service to locate its Hub 2000 facility there, an $860 million investment that has sparked a new program linked with area college students and promises to create as many as 6,000 new jobs. Southwest Airlines continues to expand its activity in and out of Louisville, stirring up the market in the process, as is its custom.

Louisville's amenities aren't bad either, including a one-stop business center with a conference room, lounge, phones, photocopier and fax, and full-service bank. A $50 million parking garage opened in 1997, with 4,300 spaces amid an award-winning skylit design.

The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport got its second runway back in 1991, and its $800 million, 20-year master plan calls for a third to be built soon. Major hub operations of DHL and Delta have not only provided many jobs on their own, but have spurred other ancillary service companies to locate there, and have played no small role in luring such major relocations of company headquarters as Ashland and Toyota North America. The location is within one day's drive of over 60 percent of the country's population. Over 20 million passengers use the airport each year, and 14 airlines provide 541 daily departures. Delta offers more than 218 of those, with 97 non-stop destinations. Six hundred more acres have been identified for cargo and other aviation-related businesses.

Because of this tremendous growth at two of the three points of the Golden Triangle, many feel that Lexington's Blue Grass Airport must follow suit or be left out in the cold. After all, in the airlines' world of hubs and spokes and yield management, you have to be a hub for something. When Southwest hit the Louisville market in 1994, Delta announced companion fares out of Lexington. Those have fluctuated like the wind since then, sometimes in the middle of making a reservation. (There are 250,000 fare changes each day in the airline industry.)

But it turns out that some value the airport for its very smallness and ease of coming and going (the present garage construction snarls notwithstanding). In a sense, Blue Grass is a hub of convenience. You'll have to make that connection of course, but many are willing to make the sacrifice in exchange for the fact that it's 10 minutes from the gate to downtown -- instead of 10 minutes to get to the moving walkway or tram. Among the big wheels of commerce, being a small hub for now means a lesser radius, but faster turnaround.

"Travel is not a problem for us," says Jeff Martini of SCT Government Systems in Lexington. "In fact, a lot of people from larger cities like the airport because getting in and out is easy at a smaller airport. Visitors mention how nice it is to get off plane and be to the hotel in seven minutes. I have no trouble getting anywhere out of Lexington. In Philadelphia, the time it took me to get to the airport equals the time to get to Louisville or Cincinnati here. So in my mind we have three airports."

"Some companies require going to Louisville or Cincinnati if there's a lower fare," says Terri Wollison, manager at Carlson Wagonlit Travel in Lexington, which works with several dozen area companies. "Others don't. Somebody just paid $1,800 to go to L.A. from Lexington last-minute. Go to Louisville and it's $400. It all depends on where you go and when. We used to get a 10 percent commission, but then the airlines capped them at eight percent, then at a maximum of $50 round-trip, $25 one-way. Travel agents issue 80 percent of plane tickets. But airlines continue to charge fees. That's why we charge our business travelers a $10 fee for each ticket. A lot of agencies are doing it.

"The business traveler doesn't have a whole lot of choices in this area. Drive to Louisville and it's $100 last-minute to Chicago. Tomorrow out of Lexington would be $741. The same ticket 14 days in advance is $133. But most business travelers don't have that kind of advance notice. Some companies require people to stay over a Saturday night to save money."

An oddity of the hub system and the airline practice of yield management is that it's often less expensive to fly out of Lexington than out of the hub airport. Wollison points out that it has to be a pretty substantial savings before people will take the time to drive. But while there might be a short layover before the connecting flight to L.A. for example, the realized savings might be as high as $1,000 or more.

"This is why your travel agent is worth their weight in gold," says a smiling Wollison. "Customers call all the time saying they already looked this up on the Internet. But we regularly help them find a cheaper fare."

For overseas flyers, many allow their people to go business class, so they're ready to perform when they arrive. But the difference between coach and business class from Lexington to London, England is $1100 vs. $6200 (first class is over $9,000), so the company travel manager, or its stated policy, must determine just how valuable that extra measure of readiness really is.

Being there reigns supreme

Whether the need to get there is prompted by repairing a crane, settling a labor dispute, attending an important training conference or reassuring a shaky partner, all business travelers consider their journeys to be absolutely urgent. As long as that sense of priority and competition remains, airlines will always know where to turn for maximum yield management. But there's enough information and alternatives out there today to make them think twice before that next rate hike.

"We negotiate directly with the airlines because of the amount of traveling we do," says Denny Wallingford of Toyota. "By contractual agreement, we don't go onto the Internet to get the least expensive price for one seat. We fly on weekends, 14-21 days in advance, different airports, companion fares. We have people who live in Louisville, and we ask them to fly from there. We fly nonrefundable ticketing. We're still able to capture some of the discounts available out there. We look at fuel prices. We're members of the business travelers association, and keep abreast of practices.

"But the fact that business travelers pay an extreme premium is going to become more and more of an issue. It's a terrible penalty. So what we do is train and educate our people to make arrangements as far in advance as they can. We're a company that does a lot of travel, and we're always trying to do it in as efficient a manner as possible, but be fair to team members. But we're very concerned about cost. We look at alternate ways of doing things."

Thanks to Kentucky's central geographic location, the powerful diversity of services available in the Golden Triangle and a growing cadre of entrepreneurial fliers, those alternatives abound. With them come the requisite hard decisions about where, when and why we need to get there. Should the business traveler continue to fall prey to the brunt of airline pricing policies, some urgencies may shift.

Adam Bruns is a staff writer for The Lane Report.