Hope, Despair and the Human Faces Managing the Pandemic Crisis

The travel sector has endured the coronavirus pandemic better than expected, broadly speaking, thanks to the heroic sacrifices of many. Outright bankruptcies have been rare, despite the steep plunges in revenue.

Yet the parade of headlines has been ferocious. Much news coverage has focused on financials and business tactics. But it’s worth noting that many people behind the headlines had to withstand a fierce drama.

So we’re pausing to recall a handful of leaders’ emotional moments. Here are some examples of how it felt to withstand the pandemic.

“Things Just Fell Off a Cliff”

JetBlue President Joanna Geraghty recalled a few moments during March and April 2020 when she spoke later at Skift Global Forum.

“Things just fell off a cliff, almost overnight,” Geraghty said. “It required the leadership team and our front-line to very quickly adjust.”

The crisis required JetBlue’s management team to have endless emergency meetings and address multiple problems at once.

“I was riding my bike to work every day, riding over [New York City’s] Queensboro Bridge,” Geraghty said. “There was no traffic. It was just eerie.”

JetBlue had a large operation in New York, which had been the center of the U.S. pandemic back then. (See: 25 Critical Days for the Travel Industry in 2020.)

“Given the fear and concern our crew members had, we wanted to make sure we quickly put into place protocols around contact tracing, testing, and sick policies for Covid on top of existing sick policies,” Geraghty said.

The airline tried to reassure employees it was doing everything according to existing U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance to keep them safe.

“But it’s scary to be a front-line crew member out there in operation exposed to people who don’t realize they have Covid and you’re coming into contact with them,” Geraghty said. “So the safety of our crew members and customers was our number one priority.”

See: Pandemic and Competitors’ Struggles Put JetBlue on Offense During Crisis.

So Much Uncertainty

Executives themselves weren’t immune to the risks. Exhibit A was our April story: Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel Tests Positive for Coronavirus.

Fogel later told Skift’s Dennis Schaal that his symptoms were mild and he had been working at home instead of at the company’s Norwalk, Connecticut headquarters.

“I was so lucky and my family was so lucky,” Fogel said at Skift Global Forum in October. “We know so many people who, unfortunately, either lost their fight with the virus or are still suffering from the illness, and my sympathy goes out to every single person who has suffered from this terrible, terrible pandemic.”

“Obviously, when you’re right in the midst of it, when you’re feeling ill, and — for us it was very early in the pandemic for me and my family, so there were a lot of unknowns about what’s going to happen, … Boy, I tell you, for a few moments you think, ‘What if?’,” Fogel said. “If I can’t do the job, who can take over? Did you set up succession plans right, or not?'”

“One of the first things I said was, for every single person in a critical position, we need to make sure that if this person falls ill, we know who steps up to take that position,” Fogel said.

See Video: Interview With Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel at Skift Global Forum (for Skift Pro members).

Sorenson Speaks

Perhaps the most emotionally resonant comments from a travel sector CEO in 2020 came from CEO Arne Sorenson of Marriott International, who sent a video message on March 19 to employees.

“I can tell you I have never had a more difficult moment than this one,” Sorenson said, summing up the feelings of many others.

Sorenson, who’s fighting pancreatic cancer, brought a mix of vulnerability, empathy, and steely grit to his message.

“I want to acknowledge the associates who are dealing with [the crisis] as a patient, a parent, a family member, or friend, and for the hundreds of Marriott colleagues who are at this minute quarantined,” Sorenson said. (To relive the moment, click here: Marriott CEO Sorenson Details Crisis Contingency Plans in Emotional Address.)

Speaking later in May to investors, Sorenson provided the first details on the company’s revenue plunge.

“The word of choice to describe what is happening around the world today is unprecedented, and the pandemic that has the world in its grip is certainly that,” Sorenson said at Marriott’s annual shareholders’ meeting. “For a company that is 92-years-old and has borne witness to the Great Depression, World War II, and many other economic and global crises, that is saying something.” (Marriott CEO Arne Sorensen Says Most of the World Has Seen the Bottom.)

Sorenson in September wrote about why the travel sector will rebound because travel is such a powerful thing for human beings. He recalled how his life had been blessed with the opportunity for frequent travel and mentioned a few examples of how it had enhanced his empathy and understanding. (Read A CEO’s Love Letter to Travel.)

He sadly died in February 2021 after his cancer battle.

Strains and Stress

The sudden collapse in travel created a pile-up of customer complaints about refunds. Many travel leaders who prided themselves on their attention to customer service felt queasy as they faced massive backlogs in refund requests.

Darrell Wade, the founder of tour operator Intrepid Travel, spoke for many travel leaders when he vented his frustration at the crisis. Like its peers, Wade’s company had to suspend trips which resulted in 35,000 cancellations from March through to May, with thousands more later in the year, too. Intrepid offered its customers 110 percent travel credit for when the world opens up again.

“We’ve had to make countless impossible decisions on the fly,” Wade said. “Decisions that have ended decades-long careers, decisions that have left families and staff around the world without incomes, decisions that have broken hearts and caused all of our staff and friends a lot of pain.”

“At the same time as all of this has been happening, some of our customers have raised concerns about changes to our booking conditions and our response to their inquiries,” Wade said. “Those concerns were absolutely valid. And in the midst of everything we’ve been dealing with, while our intentions have always been good, we could’ve handled some things better. And I’m sorry we didn’t.”

See The Anguish of a Travel CEO in a World Shut Down.

Intrepid’s situation was the norm, not the exception, with companies of all sizes struggling to cope with a sudden surge in customer demands. For more context, see “Global Airline Trade Group Deals Massive Blow to Travel Agencies by Opposing Refunds.”

Wild Swings in Emotion

Airbnb itself felt whipsawed between bad and good fortune, swing from revenue cratering to a red-hot IPO in less than a year.

“To think back to March and April, that we would be here today (with the IPO), is incredible,” said Airbnb co-founder and chief strategy officer Nathan “Nate” Blecharczyk. “It’s surreal. Let me say that. But we are always grateful.” (Airbnb Co-Founder on Life After the IPO.)

The constant changes in travel restrictions also exhausted many travel leaders.

“Every passing week would result in some new or updated public health measure, which would send us back to the drawing board to rejig our plans,” said John Gunter, the CEO of Canada-based tour operator Frontiers North Adventures. For one example, read: What Happened to Travel Bubbles?. For context, read The Hard-Hit Tour Companies Pushing Forward on a Careful Path to Recovery, and Tourism Leaders Need to Expect the Unexpected in the Next Decade.

The live events and meetings and conventions sectors often felt at a loss, except when they weren’t manically trying to handle reschedulings.

“This is mentally and physically exhausting,” Cvent CEO Reggie Aggarwal told Skift’s sister brand EventMB. “It’s been busy, and on a personal level, it’s been difficult.” (See Exclusive Interview: Cvent CEO Reggie Aggarwal on the Future of Events.)

Even online travel giants, usually seen as impregnable, looked fragile. Barry Diller, chairman of Expedia Group, noted that “we went out and debted ourselves up” by raising more than $6 billion as a cash cushion. (See Barry Diller Shares Pandemic Highs and Lows, Snapping Up MGM Resorts Stake While Rescuing Expedia With Debt.)

In many ways, the emotional importance of what the travel sector provides people became more apparent once people could no longer take it for granted. An example of that was the resurgence of mural tourism in the U.S.. See Mural Tourism Resurgence Inspired by Pandemic and Black Lives Matter.

Workers Hit Hard

As we lap a year of the crisis, we’re reminded of a tweet from the writer Damian Barr: “We are not all in the same boat. We are all in the same storm.”

For much of the year, one out of three U.S. hospitality workers was unemployed. (U.S. Hotels’ 35 Percent Unemployment Rate Remains Staggeringly Higher Than National Average.) The pandemic devastated North American hospitality labor union Unite Here, for instance. (What the Boss of the Most Devastated Union in Travel Has to Say About the Future.)

Walt Disney Company alone said it had to lay off roughly 28,000 U.S. employees in its theme parks division. (Disney to Lay Off 28,000 U.S. Theme Park Workers and Others as Covid Takes Its Toll.)

In the U.S. airline sector, one out of every three workers is out of work. (U.S. Airlines Shed the Most Jobs in 3 Decades After Federal Relief Expired.)

Some executives found themselves in the crosshairs, too. A case in point: British Airways CEO Alex Cruz stepped down after trying to fight what he called the biggest crisis the company had ever faced. (British Airways CEO Alex Cruz Replaced by Aer Lingus Boss Sean Doyle.)

Travel Executives Reveal Their Human Sides

One glimmer of hope amidst the gloom is that many employees saw the human side of many executives during the past year, as a team spirit overrode other tensions.

CEO Richard Fain of Royal Caribbean Cruises sent a video message to his colleagues that, after touching on more serious matters, joked about the new normal in workday attire.

Referring to travel agents’ sales representatives at the cruise line, Fain said: “Call them, better yet, videoconference them so you can see what everybody looks like in a t-shirt.” (For more, read Travel CEO Video Messages: Best Practices for the Coronavirus Pandemic.)

James Jianzhang Liang, chairman of Trip.com Group and cofounder of Ctrip.com, has done a couple of dozen “Boss Live Stream” webcasts in 2020. Source: Trip.com Group.

James Jianzhang Liang, the co-founder and chairman of the board of Trip.com Group, China’s travel giant, replaced his customary business suit and scripted statements for a wide-ranging set of costumes and witty banter during a couple dozen weekly live streams since March. Liang’s webcasts sold more than $300 million of travel packages and hotel room reservations, but just as importantly they helped humanize the company’s management.
See: Travel Companies Adapt to a Livestreaming Trend That May Outlast the Pandemic.

In a message earlier this year to Booking Holdings employees, Fogel said: “Every single one of you has been asked to step outside of your normal routine, out of your comfort zone, and with every single ask, you have stepped up and you have delivered, surpassing my expectations in so many ways.”

“There will be difficult days ahead, and things will get worse before they get better, but I know we will weather the storm — all pandemics do end — and we will continue on our mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world, once the world is ready to travel again.”