Study being done to benchmark travel costs with recommendation to eliminate business class for non executives.
33 replies (most recent on top)
@nz In addition Indians are used to being crammed in small places. Just look at their trains and rickshaws
@zh For US trips/events, it's max $70 per dime
Policies for different durations of travel also provided for one or two travel days based on travel duration. I’ve been hearing the positive argument for requiring budget economy (not full fare) travel is that it will allow more people to travel for the same travel budgets and actually increase global productivity and collaborative efforts. Also with the change to economy class on long haul flights there will be travel recovery days added in addition to travel days. Not sure if that means one or two extra days to get acclimated to time zone and get a good night sleep at hotel before meetings or work. Of course if travel is on weekends or recovery days are on weekends they do not carry over into workdays. You just gave the company your weekend. It’s a bit crazy to think someone will be able to leave Houston on Monday have two travel days and two recovery days before having to show up at a meeting at BTC on Friday.
Also has anyone else heard rumors of a per-diem system in consideration for travel expenses, this has been said to be a standard in other industries, and is already in use in parts of EM for some time..
Take biz class benefits away from contractor rotators. Structural savings right there.
Since EM can legally pay someone from India 1/10 the salary of the same job title and CL American, then it should be legal for EM to make Indians fly economy while Americans fly Business.
Seems silly that each round trip business class ticket is equal to the annual salary of an Indian.
indian not indian, this or that..
this bi-partisan thinking has gotten america in a mess.
how about see indians as humans for once?
@gm are you Indian?
@gm Facts! All employees below exec level are treated like sh-t wherever they are based.
Folks, instead of making this a war between countries, let's recognize that Management Committee made the decision to move our jobs to India and they are watching this fight with popcorn on a long weekend and laughing their asXXs out ...
Also, there are many US employees who are not US born who have earned their citizenship here through education and hard work. They pay more taxes than a common US born person with a highschool diploma. They are in the same boat as other US born employees.
Just chill and enjoy your bourbon...
@gh why wouldn’t they want luxury trips on Emirates business class worth more than their annual salaries? I’ve never seen any of them taken Indian airlines…
@g1 The same thing is happening with Indians wanting to travel to The US. I am constantly receiving requests from Indians to travel to Midland or Carlsbad to see the field. No reason other than wanting a trip.
There are so many folks from overseas traveling to Houston, and they stay for weeks at a time. Their agendas are often non-existent & they justify these paid vacations by saying they are going to spend all this time collaborating with "team members" (like Zoom doesn't exist). Then when they arrive, they run around expecting us all to drop what we're doing to spend all of our time with them (again with no real agenda). I wish managers would validate with the Houston based teams before approving travel requests from non-U.S. based folks. More often than not, we'd tell them that the trips are not necessary & could be a Zoom call or an email. I'm sure it's the same situation for many people traveling international from the U.S. So much waste!!!
@ef yes
Are non executives really even traveling that much?
if we managed to get through covid through zoom, i don't see why business travel is ever needed now. Even field operators have ipad, so if it's any thing field related, their zoom video call will be helpful for remote discussions. I will rather go back home early than to even travel out these days, not worth the time for this place
@cy report him to HR
@dc 100% agree.
@op - who's doing the study - HR?
Rather than cutting all biz class, I'd cut all biz class between Houston & Bangalore and Buenos Aires & Houston. So many unneeded trips. Disgusting.
@cj agreed
I know a guy (not high-level) from Asia who travels to the US >10 times a year for workshops. Interestingly, most participants (people who do actual works) join from Zoom. This guy just loves flying luxury airlines and abuses the system.
It's about time. The increase in trips to/from GBC's is driving a huge amount of cost. Sure, the GBC's might look cheaper on paper, but when you factor in the reduced quality/productivity and then people flying to/from there in business class, it's a drain on the corporation. Definitely a good way to reduce unnecessary travel costs.
Premium Economy will need to do for overseas flights.
I’m always surprised at the number of people complaining about non-executive folks actually enjoying one of the very very few perks left at this place. As if flying business class for business is some crime against the company. It’s come to the point where the employees are in some sort of contest for who can sacrifice the most for the company.
It’s as if they think if they suffer enough, the company will acknowledge the sacrifice and not port their role to a TC as soon as they can. This will happen regardless if you eat McD’s for every business meal or Ruth’s Chris. The only difference is you will have eaten $#!+ food for no reason when you could’ve at least enjoyed yourself a little.
When I had to travel I was going somewhere to do something hands-on the people there didn't have the knowledge/experience to do. It involved months of planning, almost having to over promise what I would accomplish to "justify" it. While managers would travel internationally just to sit in a conference room and look at powerpoints, having put 0 preparation into it, and having their underlings set everything up for them. There was only one time I went on a trip like that with my manager...we literally attended 3-4 meetings in a small conference room looking at powerpoints. 20K+ blown for something that could have been done via zoom call.
So I agree there's a LOT of wasted money on business travel that could have been a zoom meeting, but their application is backwards...it's the execs that likely are just sitting and talking while looking at slides, already wasting company resources with their ridiculous pay, while the people who ACTUALLY NEED to be somewhere should be given the tools they need to get there rested and ready to actually work. This is just a pipe dream, however, as there are 2 sets of rules no matter what area of life you are in...one for the "elites" and one for the commoner.
@a3 Exactly. And the worst part is how they brag about their “excellence” like they pulled off something extraordinary. No honey, it was pure politics. Doesn’t hurt to remember the COVID era once in a while.
The 6-hour metric to distinguish between economy and business is completely reasonable. …especially when time changes mean you are walking off that international flight and right into the office. Crack down on the bad actors. Don’t change the policy.
And for gosh sake, don’t structure roles where an employee can hide on a plane all day. The places where it is taken advantage of are just that. One person covering territories where Monday they hop on a plane to see someone briefly on Tuesday to hop on a plane to see someone briefly Thursday to fly back to Houston. They’ve had two in-person meetings and 3 days of wasted travel time. Rules should be:
- Unless you are out in the field touching equipment, you should do it remotely. (Sitting in a field office, and having the operator give you a 30min tour doesn’t count.)
- Unless you haven’t seen them face-to-face in a quarter, you should do it remotely. (And try to clump those meetings adjacent to conferences, so you see everyone in one business trip.)
@bx true . There have been so many people making unnecessary intercontinental travels raking airline mileages and hotel points, fine dining and drinks . But the change may not be fair to the true necessary travelers
About time. The amount of travel would instantly drop. There are several advisors in Houston who refuse to travel coach so they never go to any of the sites in Canada or the US.
You can thank the Iran War and Strat of Hormuz for the $18.7 billion in net income.
There are many bootlickers at Fortune 500 companies. You may well be the bootlickiest of them all!
There are many Fortune 500 companies that fly coach class for all employees. The only business and first class flyers are Presidents and Vice Presidents.
@a2 XOM survives on blood of people either through war or it's own employees
Not quite good enough yet.
“Approximately $18.7 billion in net income attributable to ExxonMobil for the first half of 2026 (through June 30)”