Business Travel After Sept. 11

Two days after the attacks, the General Services Administration issued the first in a series of advisories for federal travelers. Although agencies usually prefer that employees use air travel, they were allowed to authorize other modes of transportation on a case-by-case basis, GSA said.

"Bus, rail, car, whatever way we can get people back home, that's what we're telling people to do," GSA's Jim Harte told Government Executive on Sept. 13. "Now is not the time to look at cost. Just get people back home, and we'll fix it later. We have too many people stranded." On an average business day, some 90,000 federal workers are traveling.

In the future, federal travelers still reluctant to fly can ask to travel using ground transportation, but they must get prior approval and go through a travel management center.

As in all emergencies or other situations that disrupt travel plans, civilian agencies and the Defense Department can authorize additional spending for lodging, meals and other expenses. GSA's Federal Supply Service also permitted higher spending limits on travel cards to accommodate emergency spending.

For the latest GSA travel advisory, go to www.policyworks.gov and click on "Travel Management."

Military recruiters spent the week after the attacks helping recruits get to basic training. Many were stranded when the Federal Aviation Administration shut down air travel.

Capt. Jody Breckenridge, commanding officer for the Coast Guard's recruiting command, orchestrated the movements of 140 recruits scheduled to ship off to Cape May, N.J., for basic training on Sept. 11. Breckenridge sent some home to await a later ship date and put some in hotels to await the resumption of travel services. In the Northeast, Coast Guard recruiters rented vans and drove recruits to Cape May.

"These logistical disruptions are not unusual for us," Breckenridge says, noting that snowstorms frequently ground recruits on their way to training in the winter. "This is certainly numerically more extreme. . . . But we haven't heard anyone who has said they're overwhelmed. The attitude is that whatever it takes, that's what we'll do."

Overall, the Military Traffic Management Command had 6,000 to 7,000 recruits who were not where they were supposed to be right after the attacks. In one week the number was down to about 1,000, says Gail Andrews, chief of the Recruit Movement Team. At one civilian agency at least, travel came almost to a standstill in September. Between low year-end funding and tight security, people were going nowhere, said a transportation specialist.

In another department, a travel manager reported: "It doesn't seem as if the [attacks have] convinced any of our employees not to travel. I have seen only one traveler opt to drive a rental car rather than fly. No one has complained about getting to the airport earlier or anything like that."

Though travel experts have been flooding the airwaves and other media with tips, most of what they have to say is standard operating procedure for experienced travelers: pack light, get to the airport in plenty of time, carry photo identification, give those back home your itinerary, take contact numbers with you and so on.

Some, including the National Business Travel Association and GSA, are discouraging use of e-tickets, because they are more difficult to change when flights are delayed or canceled. But the Airlines Reporting Corp., which provides technology services to airlines and travel agencies, stresses that e-tickets and ticketless travel are still permitted.

As of Sept. 26, the Federal Aviation Administration's advice was to check with the airline if you have an e-ticket to find out if you should request a paper ticket. "Within certain guidelines, the airlines will determine what ticket documentation (tickets, boarding passes, or reservation confirmations) their security screeners will allow," the advisory said.

Airlines have gotten stricter about keeping things that could be used as weapons out of passenger cabins. So check through anything sharp with your luggage. That includes office supplies, points out Sheryl Blackburn, a travel assistant with the Army Corps of Engineers in Los Angeles.

"Box cutters, staplers, scissors, letter openers, etc.," says Blackburn, "I will now have to pack all supplies in stowed luggage instead of . . . in my briefcase. Also, disposable razors, cosmetic mirrors, nail clippers, nail files, and such-none of that stuff can be taken in your carry-on bag anymore."

Reports of four-hour layovers, reductions in meal service and directions by the airlines to be at the airport three hours before departure are filtering into offices at the Military Traffic Management Command, reports one self-described traffic management "old-timer."

Travel to and from headquarters was in an upheaval with the temporary suspension of service at Reagan National Airport and with about 15 percent of other flights canceled after the attacks, she says. Travelers had to go in or out of Dulles or Baltimore-Washington International, which are farther away, adding to travel costs.

"We will all be inconvenienced for a very long time until the commercial sector and the customers can adjust to the new requirements," says the Defense traffic expert. "But Americans are flexible even though we are spoiled. We will make it and improve our processes-it's an opportunity for growth."

The day after the attacks, 38 percent of those surveyed told travel marketing firm Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown of Orlando, Fla., that they would cancel a domestic business trip; 52 percent said they would take fewer international trips.

Private sector business travel managers told NBTA that they would increase use of videoconferencing (88 percent) and car rentals for short trips (65 percent).

Some of the reduction in travel, both commercial and government, is because of the tightening economy, not because of the terrorist attacks.