JD Chesloff, President & CEO, Massachusetts Business Roundtable

As hybrid and remote options increase among employers in Massachusetts and globally, businesses are also contemplating real estate needs and office layouts to align with these trends. At the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, we have held countless discussions to share experiences, data and resources, and best practices in responding to and planning for the future of work. Talent is consistently a top concern during these discussions—attracting and retaining talent, developing talent, and diversifying talent. In a recent convening featuring Lisa Wieland, CEO of Massport, talent yet again served as a centerpiece in our conversation; but this time, the focus was on supporting talent for a new type of travel: bleisure.

Lisa Wieland, CEO, Massachusetts Port Authority

More and more, Lisa has observed travelers are mixing business travel with pleasure, extending work trips to enjoy a long weekend away.  Even before the recovery began, Lisa focused her team on ensuring this economic engine is delivering a customer experience that aligns with the expectations of the evolving passenger mix. While workers often turn their out-of-office message on while on vacation, bleisure blends business with leisure by taking advantage of flexible hours, remote accessibility, and mobile technology to stay connected to the “virtual” office. In addition to economies reopening, bleisure is another reason Massport attributes to higher rates of travel year-over-year. Among the three airports Massport operates, including Worcester Regional Airport, Hanscom Field, and Logan International Airport, Logan alone served 3.55 million passengers last month, nearly a million more than the previous July yet still 15 percent fewer travelers compared to July 2019.

In an effort to learn more about the new persona of today’s travelers and Massport’s role in the future of travel, Lisa sat down with a dozen Roundtable members to hear directly from employers. Members shared insight on what they are seeing in a rapidly changing work environment as Lisa listened to feedback and shared some of the initiatives underway such as the FlyLogan app that allows you to order food delivered to your gate, purchase Logan Express tickets, and much more.  As with many other areas of change and innovation sparked by the pandemic, this could be an opportune time to rethink the purpose of the airport for business travel as an extension of the office.

The start of our discussion was consistent with findings from the Roundtable’s survey on the Future of Work from May 2022 with the recognition that hybrid work is here to stay. 68% of respondents from our survey plan to use hybrid work models in the “future steady state” while only 26% expect work to be fully or mostly in person. This is a dramatic shift in where and how people work. Employees can work from anywhere and employers are responding with 89-95% are offering remote work across various roles.

Increased remote and hybrid work is dramatically impacting offices and how workplaces are defined. In fact, one member described work as “an activity that drives a specific outcome, not a location.” Our survey found that 36% plan to decrease their office footprint, with many others forfeiting individual workstations for more collaborative meeting space. This meeting space now extends to places like airports. Passengers are increasingly taking virtual meetings and working remotely in airport lounges and terminals, and Massport is taking action to serve this need.

In recent days Logan has opened a new connector between Terminals B and C, which is part of Massport’s strategy to connect all terminals post-security to make connections easier for passengers. In addition to replacing aging infrastructure and installing an interactive exhibit showcasing Massachusetts’ impact on the music industry, The B to C Connector offers flexible seating options (see below) designed to make it easier for passengers to participate in a virtual meeting or wrap up a presentation before boarding a flight. President Joe Biden also joined Massport along with federal, state, and local officials in September to celebrate historic funding for significant infrastructure investments that will transform Terminal E to be an inclusive, world-class welcome for international travelers, students, and visitors of the Commonwealth.

Like most airports, Logan was hard hit by the pandemic; fortunately, it is rebounding with Logan serving thirty one million passengers in FY22. However, business travel, as our members shared, may forever be changed. Business trips are less frequent, and those being taken are longer in duration to make the most out of the time and travel.

The pandemic sparked change in practically all facets of life. As many have adapted to such changes, Massport is adapting to so passengers can use the airport an extension of the office when traveling for both business and leisure.