2024 U.S.-Booked Air Volume: $34.8 million
Primary Air Suppliers: American, Delta, United
Primary U.S. Online Booking Tool: SAP Concur
Consolidated Global TMC: Amex GBT
The United Nations recorded $34.8 million in U.S.-booked air spending for 2024, a $1.9 million decrease from 2023. The global organization projects U.S. air volume to be $30 million in 2025.
A revision was issued on the UN’s 10-year-old travel policy in 2024 which further encourages travelers to plan and book travel within recommended timelines. This is expected to translate to increased compliance with policy and savings for the organization. A flexibility threshold guidance was introduced for greater support to operations and program satisfaction. Traveler satisfaction in 2024 was 97.8 percent.
The UN managed two dozen outreach and training sessions for nearly 3,300 participants to ensure engagement and awareness of new policies and processes. Travel reporting was also enhanced via continuous updates on existing management dashboards.
The organization anticipates additional policy updates in 2025 will improve process efficiency and drive increased online booking tool adoption with a view to expanding OBT touchless transaction parameters within the updated travel policy.
The organization expects to complete a TMC tender, and the Travel and Transportation Section in Headquarters will continue to spearhead initiatives, including the revamp of the user interface of the travel enterprise resource planning module to improve the end-to-end travel process user experience. They are also working on a project to deliver a cloud-based, client-facing platform to partially automate visa services, host country registration and accreditation and permit services and workflows.