Chief Executive – Joe Araullo

Saturday afternoons are normally categorized “relaxation” for most people in the travel industry. It’s time to reflect on a hard day’s work in the garden, time to start thinking about that big game your team is playing in or perhaps even that cold glass of wine or beer. However TravelManagers’ personal travel managers erased all of those thoughts when they were alerted to the fact Qantas’ Chief Executive, Alan Joyce had made the decision to ground the entire Qantas fleet worldwide on Saturday afternoon.

TravelManagers’ Chief Executive Joe Araullo says their clients around the world became the focus for the next 24 hours.

“Our 325 personal travel managers were in absolute work mode connecting with their clients affected around the world by this historic move to ground all the flights. It doesn’t actually matter why they are being grounded it’s very much about contacting the clients and either finding them alternative flights or rental cars if they need to travel that day or sorting accommodation arrangements.”

Mr. Araullo says the mobility of their personal travel managers truly came into effect with the announcement falling on a weekend.

“The reality is that most bricks and mortar travel agents were closed at this time which shows the flexibility and convenience of using a personal travel manager. The reaction from clients was significant, they were overwhelmed at not only being contacted on a Saturday evening or Sunday morning but the fact they were being contacted proactively alerting them to the problem and also with a solution.”

Mr. Araullo says their technology played a huge part in the efficiency of the exercise.

“Our IT systems allowed us to firstly contact our personal travel managers by email and text regarding the Qantas announcement and subsequent announcements plus it searched and located any of our clients who were booked to fly or due to fly on Qantas flights within a 48 hour period. It also allowed us to provide information to our personal travel managers regarding the extra capacity Virgin Australia had and a strike by Air France workers.”

Mr. Araullo says their IT system is a priority for the company.

“We are constantly investing in our systems to ensure our personal travel managers have the most up up-to-date information at their fingertips. Situations like this prove just how valuable that investment is.”