Data used to be so simple. It regularly arrived from your TMC and you knew what the important metrics: identifying the top suppliers, travellers and destinations, booking data by supplier sector, compliance to travel policy — what was the percentage and
which travellers booked outside policy?
You got the numbers to identify what you were spending with whom for what and how to make savings.
But there's an interesting trend. Average travel costs (flights, overnight accommodation, etc) are falling but the cost of travel — the cost of business trips to companies — is rising.
However, while we've been busy debating the merits of data analysis, Delta Air Lines has been devising some metrics aimed straight at this issue.
Last week the carrier launched two operational performance metrics for its corporate clients which will help measure the cost of a trip rather rather than just report the fare paid. Its press release said,
"The Trip Fulfillment Factor measures the likelihood of a corporate customer experiencing a disruption-free flight, including itineraries with connections.
"The Trip On-time Factor measures the likelihood of a corporate customer reaching their final destination on-time, including itineraries with connections.
"Combined, the Trip Fulfillment Factor and Trip On-time Factor allow corporate customers to compare all trip options across Delta and its major US competitors whether travel is nonstop, one-stop or more — so they can make the best choice for their upcoming
flights. With these metrics in place, Delta will become the first US carrier to provide corporate customers with account-specific reporting on the routes on which their travellers actually fly."
Trips with connections are often cheaper than direct flights because at least one leg will be on a route with excess capacity or because it's being operated by a foreign carrier who is directing flights through one of their hub airports.
Although these two tools will undoubtedly be crude because of their first-generation status they are introducing the traveller's time into the value proposition.
This is important because by using trip duration as well as cost, the metric will be about maximising value rather than minimising costs. Delta is introducing traveller experience into the measurements.
These tools are "available for flights originating in North America and [Delta] expects to expand it to include international and codeshare slights in future".
We talk about improving the traveller experience as well as controlling cost. That means looking for some smarter metrics.
How many more traveller centric metrics might be on travel management's horizon?