Travel Manager Finds Silver Lining In Volcanic Cloud
The flight-halting eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano ranks among the most troublesome headaches in business travel history, but the disaster also provided a chance for such experienced travel managers as Reed Smith's Rosanne Russo to prove their value.
As flights in London began to shut down, Russo, the law firm's global travel manager, was attending Omni Hotels' customer advisory board meeting in Arizona. She had planned to tack a leisure weekend onto the trip but instead found herself spending most of her time in the hotel's business center managing the plans of her company's travelers.
"We had people in Hong Kong, London and various parts of Europe," Russo said. "Because of time differences, I was dealing with Europe in the morning, Asia at night and the U.S. in between."
With the help of agencies ATP Business Travel and Ultramar Travel Management, Russo worked to help stranded travelers. The initial challenge was to prevent them from making their own rogue plans, she said.
"In the beginning, the travelers' thoughts were just 'get me out of here,'" Russo said. "My responsibility was to think clearly for them, making sure they were not being gouged."
Russo at the onset instructed agents and managers to prevent travelers from making rash decisions. Many, for example, had the inclination to go to Madrid under the assumption that airports there would open first, she said. The problem was that many other travelers had the same idea, making it likely travelers would reach Madrid without plans and a city full of occupied hotel rooms.
Keeping tabs on events through a spreadsheet, Russo remained in constant contact with travelers, transit authorities and embassies.
As arrangements became available, Russo provided travelers options and made arrangements once everyone was in agreement. "This was a team effort, and we wanted to make sure everyone had buy-in," she said.
Analysts still are assessing the full impact of the disruption, but an April 21 National Business Travel Association survey of 234 corporate travel managers indicated that companies on average were dealing with 160 stranded travelers during the eruption aftermath. The disruption cost companies on average about $197,000 in additional travel expenses, with travelers often at the mercy of hotels to stay well past their reservation length.
Russo, however, said with very few exceptions, her hotel partners were cooperative with stranded travelers. One hotel in New York even refunded a room that was supposed to have been nonrefundable, she said.
In the end, all of Reed Smith's travelers made it home by the Wednesday or Thursday following the eruption, Russo said, and a write-up on the corporate intranet has given her newfound fame within the company.
"Time was so precious, and each situation was a different challenge," Russo said. "Since then, I've been hearing from travelers I'd never even heard of before."