The High Life

Business travel etiquette: 7 rules to thrive — and survive — on the road withyour colleague

If you’re only going for a two-day business trip, ditch the steamer trunk andtravel light.
Cash is King.
As I sat in our rental car in the 120-degree Phoenix heat, motor idling, mycolleague was busy inside eating pecan waffles.
Be punctual.

I typically travel solo—but observing a lawyer with a client at the airport last week made me realize there should be an etiquette guide for business travel with your manager or a client. Though I’ve written Road Warrior blogs, I’m certainly no Miss Manners of the road, but the following seem obvious.

The primary rule is to adapt your behavior to that of your manager or client. Do not be high maintenance. This can play out in several specific ways:

1. Luggage

If you’re only going for a two-day business trip, ditch the steamer trunk. Rid yourself of any thoughts of checking luggage; it is rude and inconsiderate for others to wait a half hour for your 50-lb. roller bag to come off the luggage carousel.

A corollary to this rule is not to bring so many clothes that your client/manager thinks that you are auditioning for the next season of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. This is, after all, a business trip.

2. Meals

While traveling with others, you may not be in control of what you eat, when you eat, or if you eat at all. Several years ago, I was traveling with a young associate. As I sat in our rental car in the 120-degree Phoenix heat, motor idling, my colleague was busy inside eating pecan waffles. Exasperated, I went in looking for her and she responded, “I always have to have a big breakfast.” That was the last time we traveled together.

Similarly, if your companion orders a Diet Coke for dinner, don’t ask for the wine list. If your client/manager orders wine, permit yourself a glass of wine, but do not make a big deal of tasting several wines, sending them back, or behave in any way that calls attention to yourself. Your goal is to blend in and to be low maintenance.

3. Be organized

Your travel companion should not have to deal with you forgetting the location of your credit card, car key, boarding pass, or parking ticket. I remember traveling with my business partner (who will be furious at me for recounting this story) who tends to be a little absent minded. We had a meeting at 9 a.m. and at 8:55, she called in a panic and I had to go to her room to help her find the keys to our rental car, which she had somehow misplaced in the depths of her suitcase. Really, you don’t want your business partner going through your suitcase looking for lost car keys.

4. Be punctual

If your client/manager likes to get to the airport two hours early for a shoeshine or a visit to the President’s Club, accommodate him or her. Give up your habit of streaking down the gang way as the plane doors are closing, which will only cause anxiety for your travel companion. I have seen several occasions where a traveler in a group did not make the flight. Believe me, it did not make a good impression.

5. Keep your personal life separate

Limit calls home to times that you are in your room. Do not call the family while you are in route to the next meeting in the rental car or taxi with your boss/client. Your client/manager doesn’t want to hear that Fido had yet another accident in the family room or worse yet, that you and your spouse are fighting about where to go for the Holidays.

6. Be prepared

Do your homework on where you are going and any logistical challenges. Check the weather forecast of your destination and note if a jacket or umbrella is required. Don’t assume I packed a golf umbrella to cover both of us.

7. Cash is King

The corollary to No. 6 is nothing spends better than cash. Do you really want to pass up six taxis because they don’t accept plastic? You never can tell when an emergency will arise or credit cards aren’t accepted and you want to be the person with the solution, not the problem and there’s nothing that solves a problem like cash.

Have I left anything out? If so, let me know.

As managing director of The Alexander Group, an executive search firm with offices in Houston, San Francisco, San Diego, New York and Park City, John C. Lamar is a real road warrior. He files periodic reports about his travels for CultureMap.

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Airport News

Both Houston airports would be affected by air traffic slowdown

Photo by David Syphers on Unsplash

Flights at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston will run travelers about $392 on average.

The Federal Aviation Administration plans to reduce air traffic by 10 percent across 40 “high-volume” markets to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers exhibit signs of strain during the ongoing government shutdown.

The affected airports covering more than two dozen states include the busiest ones across the U.S. — including Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Orlando, Miami, and San Francisco. In some of the biggest cities — such as New York, Houston, and Chicago — multiple airports will be affected.

CBS News has a list of all the airports affected and that list includes both DFW Airport and Dallas Love Field. Other airports in Texas that would be affected include both airports in Houston — Houston Hobby and George Bush Houston Intercontinental.

The FAA is imposing the flight reductions to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who are working without pay during the government shutdown and have been increasingly calling off work.

Controllers already have missed one full paycheck and are scheduled to again receive nothing next week as as the shutdown drags on.

The FAA has been delaying flights at times when airports or its other facilities are short on controllers.

Passengers should start to be notified about cancellations Thursday. Airlines said they would try to minimize the impact on customers, some of whom will see weekend travel plans disrupted with little notice.

United Airlines said it would focus the cuts on smaller regional routes that use smaller planes like 737s. United, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines said they would offer refunds to passengers who opt not to fly -- even if they purchased tickets that aren’t normally refundable. Frontier Airlines recommended that travelers buy backup tickets with another airline to avoid being stranded.

Experts predict hundreds if not thousands of flights could be canceled. The cuts could represent as many as 1,800 flights and upwards of 268,000 seats combined, according to an estimate by aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Air traffic controllers have been working unpaid since the shutdown began October 1. Most work mandatory overtime six days a week, leaving little time for side jobs to help cover bills and other expenses unless they call out.

Major airlines, aviation unions, and the broader travel industry have been urging Congress to end the shutdown, which on Wednesday became the longest on record.

Staffing can run short both in regional control centers that manage multiple airports and in individual airport towers, but they don’t always lead to flight disruptions. Throughout October, flight delays caused by staffing problems had been largely isolated and temporary.

But the past weekend brought some of the worst staffing issues since the start of the shutdown.

From Friday to Sunday evening, at least 39 air traffic control facilities reported potential staffing limits, according to an Associated Press analysis of operations plans shared through the Air Traffic Control System Command Center system. The figure, which is likely an undercount, is well above the average for weekends before the shutdown.

During weekends from January 1 to September 30, the average number of airport towers, regional control centers and facilities monitoring traffic at higher altitudes that announced potential staffing issues was 8.3, according to the AP analysis. But during the five weekend periods since the shutdown began, the average more than tripled to 26.2 facilities.

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