Comparing Corporate Travel’s Biggest Agencies Before and After the Pandemic

The pandemic left a frenzied 18-month period of restructuring, refinancing and acquisitions in its wake — or as one expert put it, an "arms race." As a result, many of the bigger corporate travel agencies look vastly different compared to before the pandemic. They also have a new set of priorities, reflecting the altered and likely much smaller trading landscape that lies ahead. But even with business travel volumes recovering to just 80 percent of 2019 levels by the end of 2023, Greg O’Hara, founder of private equity firm Certares, predicts they'll end up more profitable than before as the pandemic has forced them to become leaner, more efficient machines. The Big Downsizing How lean did they get? O’Hara’s private equity firm manages a fund that owns 50 percent of the world’s biggest corporate travel agency, American Express Global Business Travel. This agency had 17,000 employees globally before the pandemic, but today that number is 14,000. It's not the only age