Rapid descent

Name: Rapid descent
Author: Barbara Sturken Peterson and James Glab
ISBN: 0671760696

by Barbara Sturken Peterson and James Glab (1995)

Read Free Sample Buy on Amazon Audible Free Trial

About this book

When the federal government deregulated the airlines in the late 1970s, the new freedom was supposed to herald an era of competition that would result in lower airfares, more airlines, and increased benefits for air travelers. Instead, deregulation led to chaotic and ever-changing fares, an industry dominated by three giant U.S. airlines, and deteriorating service. In Rapid Descent, Barbara Sturken Peterson and James Glab, two veteran airline industry reporters, trace the unraveling of the airline industry during fifteen years of deregulation. The initial promise of deregulation - which led to the founding of the famous People Express and other maverick airlines - was soon undone, in part by chance events such as the air traffic controllers' strike in 1981. Large airlines created powerful computer reservation systems, hub-and-spoke route networks, and other innovations that allowed them to crush smaller rivals, a trend that snowballed into a wave of mergers and bankruptcies in the mid- to late 1980s. Informative and lively, Rapid Descent profiles many of the colorful characters whose names became synonymous with the airline industry, like Carl Icahn, the arbitrager who bought TWA and found out it was a lot harder to run an airline than it was to acquire one; Bob Crandall, the hard-charging executive who piloted American Airlines to the top of the competitive heap; and Frank Lorenzo, the former head of several airlines, whose highly publicized battles with labor earned him a reputation as America's most hated boss.

Setting / LocationGlobal

Story EraModern Era

Protagonist / CoreRapid descent Lead Character

Themes & Moods

Travel & Adventure Aeronautics, Commercial Airlines Commercial Aeronautics Competition Deregulation Modern Era

Readers who enjoyed this also loved

The Flying Book

David Blatner

Whether you fear, thrill at, or, like many, have never bothered to stop and think about the wonder of commercial flight, The Flying Book will inform, surprise, reassure, and entertain. David Blatner takes readers from the cockpit to the runway, the control tower, the baggage and security systems, the airplane manufacturing plant, and beyond, explaining the many factors that make airline travel possible. There are stops along the way to examine airplane maintenance, pilot training, the effects of weather, safety statistics, tips for staying healthy, oddball aviation inventions such as the air car, and what aerodynamicists have learned from birds and bugs. With a brief history of aviation just to put it all in perspective, as well as minibiographies of some of history's great aviators, The Flying Book is a treasure trove of fascinating aviation facts. A delight for travelers-business, pleasure, or armchair-or any readers who like to indulge their sense of curiosity, The Flying Book captures the spirit, illuminates the science, and reveals the magic of flight.

The last voyage of Somebody the Sailor

John Barth

Journalist Simon Behler finds himself in the house of Sinbad the Sailor after being washed ashore during a sea-going adventure. Over the course of six evenings, the two take turns recounting their voyages in a brilliantly entertaining weave of stories within stories.

Natural enemies

John Knight

"Natural Enemies examines people-wildlife conflicts from a social anthropological perspective. The authors focus on the human dimension of these conflicts - an area often neglected by specialists in applied ecology and wildlife management - and on their social and political contexts. Case studies of specific conflicts are drawn from Africa, Asia, Europe and America, and feature an assortment of wild animals and birds, including chimpanzees, elephants, wild pigs, foxes, bears, wolves, pigeons and ducks." "Examining the symbolic, as well as material, dimensions of wildlife pestilence, anthropologists can reveal the cultural character of many of our 'natural enemies'. These reports from the 'front line' show that human conflict with wildlife is often an expression of conflict between people."--Jacket.

Night train to Turkistan

Stuart Stevens

The author describes his experiences traveling with three companions from Beijing to India via Kashgar in order to retrace the route followed by Peter Fleming in 1936.