Airline travel is awful. I won’t bother to justify this statement further since I know that 100% of the readership will accept this statement at face value and are probably cringing as you recall your own particular examples of indignity.

I don’t plan to say much about the reasons for this, except to note that all of the drivers – increased security, increased oil prices, difficulties restructuring, concern for the environment, as well as the political nature of landing rights – are long term issues. I don’t see much respite in any of these factors for the foreseeable future. At the same time, higher bandwidth and improvements in the software have taken web conferencing from a niche to a mainstream productivity tool. Particularly in business travel, the higher quality of remote meetings, coupled with the growing difficulty and expense of physical meetings have changed the balance for good. It is now likely that in the next few years we will start to see behavior change on a mass scale, and with it, a decline in air travel. Much as many energy experts believe we are at or near peak oil, I believe we are similarly near ‘peak mobility’.

Read Complete Viewpoint Paper >>

 

About the Author Joe Ruck Joe Ruck is president and CEO of BoardVantage. He has led many high-technology companies through successful growth to IPO or acquisition. Prior to joining BoardVantage, Joe was senior vice president of marketing at Interwoven and part of the team that drove the company through one of the most successful IPOs of 1999. Previously, he held sales, marketing, and executive positions at Sun Microsystems, Network Appliance, and Genesys Telecommunications, subsequently acquired by Alcatel. Joe holds a BS in engineering from Oregon State University and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Back to Table of Contents