Business travel is almost all the way back, Deloitte says

Business class is back in session. In a report released this week, the consulting firm Deloitte said that American business travel could soon exceed where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, a sign that frequent-flyer “road warriors” are continuing their return to the skies. Of those surveyed, 73% expect to be traveling more this year, a 15-point jump from 2023.

“By the end of 2024, US-based companies’ spend is expected to reach and perhaps surpass 2019 levels,” Deloitte said in its annual corporate travel survey.

On the one hand, the report says, fewer total people are traveling. But the ones who are hitting the road are doing so more frequently. Half of those surveyed in charge of travel-and-expense budgets say their teams are traveling more frequently in 2024 than they did last year. One in five “frequent traveler” respondents, those who travel more than 10 times a year, are taking at least one trip a month. (Plus, Deloitte said, flights and lodging are more expensive than they used to be. In its earnings commentary this week, United Airlines said that road warriors were key to its business diversification efforts.)

During the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing efforts, remote work and meetings, and fears of contagion severely curtailed business travel. Some business travelers said they never expected to take another work trip.

But between client demands, a resurgence in conference attendance, and competitive pressure, Deloitte says, those factors have taken a backseat.