“As the crow flies” is an unhelpful measure of distance.
It’s typically used to describe how two locations aren’t that far from each other, but traveling from point A to point B is usually more complicated.
A journey is longer or shorter based on the terrain, the mode of transport, the weather, and other unexpected delays.
When making plans, are you and your team estimating based on how far the crow has to fly, or on a realistic estimate of the journey ahead.