Corporate chieftains traveling farther and staying longer

Corporate executives are on the move. Chief executive officers are making more business trips, with 45 percent of them away from headquarters six or more times annually.

A survey of 175 chief executives by the Dartnell Institute of Business Research (done before the air traffic controllers' strike) says they are also traveling farther and staying longer. Sixty-two percent fly 11,000 miles a year or more and 61 percent spend three days or more on each trip.

As expected, their travel and entertainment costs are rising. The study shows they paid on average room charge of $60. Entertainment at the finest local restaurant cost about $34 per person.

In 1980, 29 percent of the executives reported taking from one to five trips annually; that figure dropped in 1981 to 17 percent. The big increase was in the number of executives reporting they take from 6 to 15 trips annually -- that percentage went from 32 percent in 1980 to 45 percent in 1981.