CASE STUDY
AECOM: Travelling through a global pandemic
Key Highlights
About AECOM
If you’re on the hunt for a global leading infrastructure firm, AECOM has your back. They are masters of infrastructure, delivering professional services for projects across transportation, buildings, water, government, energy and environmental fields.
Founded over 30 years ago, AECOM has proved itself within the industry, becoming the Fortune 500 company it is today. Despite being one of America’s largest infrastructure firms delivering design, planning, engineering, consulting and construction management solutions, the company is still driven by one simple focus that we happen to share: to deliver a better world.
The Challenge
COVID. Need we say more?
AECOM is a big, global company with big, global travel needs. For the last ten years, FCM has been their appointed travel management agency. What that looks like today is collaborating with them to create custom travel programmes and managing all their global travellers and travel needs across 25 countries.
In 2020, global travel hit a bit of a road bump. Well, not so much a road bump as a global pandemic. COVID-19 completely changed the way everyone does travel. AECOM needed to find a way to reduce risk and stay resilient. We found a way to help them do just that.
New solutions for a never-before-seen problem
COVID-19 didn’t come with a manual. We knew that we couldn’t approach this problem the same way we had any problem before. The pandemic hit hard and fast, which meant we had to act quick.
Our first step was to fully understand all of AECOM’s newfound business objectives in light of the pandemic so we knew what we were up against. We then briefed them on the situation, made recommendations, offered support, and advised them on how they could prioritise their current and future business travel objectives. The game plan was set, now we had to put it into play.
Knowledge is power
Phase one of the game plan was to give ourselves and AECOM the gift of knowledge. Through collaboration with their third-party risk management team, we pooled our information and resources to create travel forecast reports.
These reports gave AECOM full access to:
- Traveller status updates
- Project status updates
- The latest details on flight and accommodation cancellations
All in one seamless tech experience.
Our priority was quality of knowledge over quantity. With so much information coming out and not all of it accurate, we realised pretty fast that we needed a reliable filtering and reporting system to weed out the fake news from the real. Pulling together accurate and up to date information from reliable sources ranging from reputable NGOs, key public health agencies, official immigration and tourism agencies, as well as travel suppliers. Our experts delivered accurate information to AECOM with weekly reports, educational webinars, and continuous risk and policy updates.
Support from all sides
The pandemic threw a confusing wrench into everyone’s plans. We needed to make sure that all of AECOM’s employees, from the big executives to the everyday travellers, knew what was going on. They needed support at any and every stage of their individual journey, from enquiry to booking, pre-departure to post-arrival. We gave them the 24/7 support they needed.
With daily traveller status updates, handling of documentation, information regarding hygiene policies and social distancing, and management of airline policy changes and cancellation waivers, we had their back no matter what the future held. Our easy-to-use tech made tracking simple and 24/7 support made connecting with travel experts a breeze.
Moving forward during a pandemic
There is no getting around it - COVID-19 is rough. It claimed lives, brought down corporates, and changed the way many of us live, work, and function in society. When this uninvited crisis landed on everyone’s doorstep, all we could do was adapt and try to find solutions along the way.
That is precisely what AECOM did. With our support and access to resources, AECOM was able to approach the situation with a new perspective from a place of knowledge. The result? They adapted. We redirected our time, energy and resources to create a slew of solutions that helped AECOM meet its all-new Duty of Care responsibilities during COVID-19, and it worked. With our help, thousands of dollars were saved, priority projects could go ahead, and travellers could seamlessly adapt to the new way of doing travel.