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Here’s What Will Happen Next to Corporate Airfares

Matthew Parsons

Skift Take

In most cases it’s too soon to lock in future rates. But for those with creative minds, there are gains to be made in figuring out what might happen next.

To paint a picture of what corporate airfares will look like once planes return to the skies is becoming more difficult by the day — if not impossible. Airlines, for one, have more pressing matters to deal with as they fight for survival during the ongoing crisis. Most in the U.S. will be working through the fine print of the $2 trillion U.S. stimulus package that throws them a lifeline of $50 billion in grants and loans. Other carriers, particularly in Europe and Asia, have already downsized and furloughed most of their workforce and are now turning to refinancing. Cases in point include Air France-KLM, which is now looking for $6.5 billion in state-backed loans, while last week Singapore Airlines revealed it had secured $13 billion in new funding.

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After the crisis, the aviation industry stands to be unrecognizable, and travel managers should consider future scenarios before returning to the negotiation tables. Will they see cheaper fares? Is a price war looming? What are the implications of airlines being nationalized? And what about the knock-on effect of vouchers and unpaid refunds? These questions, and more, were addressed by travel managers and other experts who shared what's playing on their mind with Skift. Timing is everything One of the main questions to consider is, when will business travel bounce back? For Oliver Benoit, principal and vice president at Advito, all eyes should be on the U.S. for the answer. “The best case is that business will resume steadily from June, but it’s unlikely to happen on a massive scale. Another scenario is it will resume in September. The worst case is there will be no

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