After the breakup of The Sugarcubes, I was pretty sure that nothing that ever happened in Iceland would have a big impact on my life. I was wrong. Curses, Eyjafjallajökull!!! What a mouthful.
The volcano under the Eyjafjallajökull (site in French but great links to many English sites including webcams) glacier in Iceland that began erupting last month, resumed with full force in the middle of last week sending a steady stream of volcanic ash miles into the atmosphere where it soon flowed east and south, blanketing much of Europe.
At this writing it is uncertain how long European air travel will be affected and to what degree. The last time that Eyjafjallajökull erupted (in 1821); it remained active, by many reports, for nearly two years. Another concern is Eyjafjallajökull’s bigger sister (volcanoes, like cruise ships, are considered “female”) Katla which has been triggered every time that Eyjafjallajökull has erupted. Although it has only been three days, significant supply chain disruptions have already been seen in the perishable food market as European importers of fish, fruit, and other produce from Asia, Africa, and elsewhere into Europe have begun to collectively lose millions of Euros each day. Exporters also face costs. Over Saturday’s lunch, several members of Italy’s Procurement Executive Circle weighed in with a quick view of the potential disruptions they could face. For example, Franco Demaria, Ferrero’s Head of Technical Purchasing, spends a few days every other week in Frankfurt. If he is unable to fly, he will need to find a way to remotely support his Frankfurt activities as a ten hour drive/train from Alba to Frankfurt is not feasible. Many others in the Executive Circle weighed in including several automotive manufacturers who from time to time rely on air transport for expedited part orders. If the scope of the volcanic ash and the resulting travel disruption has a lasting impact, CPO Rising will seek to tell the stories of supply managers who are impacted and how they respond.
For now, the most immediately impacted are airlines and the millions of air travelers who had planned to fly on the more than 63,000 flights in 23 European countries that have been canceled since Thursday. With a canceled ticket for a Saturday Lufthansa flight that has been optimistically tentatively rebooked for Tuesday, I can be counted among the impacted.
I have been actively covering the convergence of travel and procurement for several years and I have been a serious business traveler for many more (assuming I make it there on my connection home, Munich will be the 93rd airport I have flown through). The opportunities for enterprises to actively manage travel, one of the largest controllable categories of spend, are tangible and immense. Many procurement departments over the past three or four years have realized significant gains by applying procurement best practices to the category and collaborating with travel managers to deliver significant savings and better service. Merck, Philips, and Becton, Dickinson and Company, are three companies that I have spoken with recently about the strong gains that a collaborative procurement/travel approach have delivered. I may revisit one or more of these stories in the future. I certainly plan to discuss business travel on these pages. But as I sit alone and stranded, thousands of miles from home, I write about the considerations that should be afforded the business traveler.
Certainly, my predicament could be worse. Much, much worse. I am guest of a wonderful host that has kept me in an idyllic room with a view and is working diligently and directly with their in-country travel agency to facilitate my return to Boston. So, I have not had to sleep in an airport. I have not had to stand in a line for four hours to buy a train ticket only to find out they were sold out. I have not had to wait on hold for hours waiting to get through to the airline only to be told to call back tomorrow. I have not had to figure out how to get to Madrid or some other city with an open airport. I have not had to find a hotel after midnight in a foreign city and then figure out how to track flight updates. I have not had to barter using cigarettes to “pay” someone to fit me in their car for a sold-out ferry ride to another destination that is not my home. I have not had to come out of pocket to pay several thousand Euros to go on some wild-goose chase in an effort to get home (All real examples taken from BBC and CNN international coverage this weekend).
Procurement and travel leaders, the business traveler needs your consideration and your support. Much as e-procurement created the self-service requisition model. Trends in business travel have placed the onus on the traveler to reserve, book, and modify the travel itinerary. In this environment, enterprises with global travelers need to consider finding TMCs (travel management companies) that are truly global and can provide global support for those travelers, wherever they may be. And, as decisions are being made for investment in travel solutions, mobile capabilities have just moved from ‘nice-to-have’ to ‘must-have’ in my book.
Imagine that you and your team had traveled to Gdańsk to finalize the contract with one of your newest suppliers of petrochemicals, when the volcano hit. You and your team are now stuck at Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport trying to determine what to do. Even if you speak Polish, this is not an easy problem. Imagine if you had a mobile travel solution that allows you to book new flights from Warsaw, rent a car, and book a hotel at the Warsaw airport, all while waiting in line for your luggage to be returned. This week’s travel experience has converted me (I was already leaning heavily). I believe that mobile travel solutions should become a mandatory requirement for those seeking travel solutions today. Those of you with solution providers that do not have a “mobility roadmap” should start pushing them immediately.
Postscript: I am not sure how the EU passengers’ rights compare to the rights given to travelers in other regions, but I am sure they are different. Travel departments should keep a current list of rights and considerations for all regions and ensure that updates are regularly shared with the travelers to those specific regions. Not knowing these rights found here may have cost some enterprises thousands of dollars in extra expenses.
Postscript II: I think this site which tracks real-time flights over Europe is pretty cool (warning: site may take time to load) http://flightradar24.com/
Tagged in: Category Management, Collaboration, EMEA, People, T&E, Technology
