Companies in Sweden want their employees to take fewer flights

Sweden’s biggest companies are looking for ways to stop polluting the skies. A phenomenon known as flying shame, which has more and more Swedes shunning airplanes, is spreading to business travel, adding to woes for an industry already hit by the rise of video conferencing and other digital solutions. For carriers such as SAS AB, which rely on business travel for a big chunk of their profit, it’s a troubling development. Mobile operator Telia Co. requires employees to take the train if the trip is below 500 kilometers (310 miles), putting a flight between Gothenburg and Stockholm, Sweden’s two biggest cities, off limits. Atlas Copco AB advises employees to choose rail travel “unless there is a significant difference in travel time.” Svenska Handelsbanken AB, one of Sweden’s biggest banks, says “aviation should be avoided, as far as possible, in favor of trains.”