It may sound like a line from a Hollywood script, but in reality, the chances are there will be a doctor on board your flight.
Gatwick Airport has analysed its data for passengers travelling on business and found a 92 per cent chance of a doctor or medical professional travelling with work on any given flight, meaning 11 out of 12 flights will have a trained physician on board.
The chances of a doctor being on a flight are improved if you’re flying to Italy – a favoured location for medical conferences – which accounts for 12 per cent of physicians flying out.
Gatwick’s analysis looked at how often and where people in different jobs travel for business. Management consultants flew on business most – with more than half jetting off at least 12 times a year. If travel is top of your list for job perks, then working in one of the following professions means you’re more likely to travel frequently for work:
Top careers travelling 12 times or more a year on business:
Management consultants – 53 per cent
Finance professionals – 44 per cent
Sale people – 43 per cent
Media (Journalist, TV production etc.) – 38 per cent
IT/ Infrastructure professionals – 36 per cent
Engineers – 32 per cent
Marketing/ PR and related disciplines – 26 per cent
Doctors, surgeons or other healthcare professionals – 23 per cent
Scientists – 20 per cent
Education professionals – 18 per cent
The most popular destinations to travel to for business are in Europe, including Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Outside of Europe, 15 per cent flew to the States for business.
Half of those who travelled for business said they viewed business travel as a perk of the job, and almost two thirds said they had combined a business trip with annual leave to take advantage of sightseeing whilst they were there. However, given the opportunity to change to a career with more travel, just under a quarter would take it, and almost a fifth said they would prefer to travel less.
When asked what people miss the most when they are away on business, respondents said their family or partner, their own bed and home cooking.
Guy Stephenson, Chief Commercial Officer, Gatwick Airport, said: “One in five of our passengers travel for business so it’s important for us to understand our business travellers better. In doing so we are also able to answer the age-old question of whether there is a doctor on board!
“European destinations are the most popular for our business passengers but an increasing number are using Gatwick’s growing long haul network which now boasts over 50 routes across the globe. We expect our long haul network to grow further this year so we can expect to see more business passengers travelling further afield than ever before.”