Hard Landing: The Epic Contest for Power and Profits That Plunged the Airlines into Chaos

Kelleher did harbor a flaw, however, one that was so obvious no one could appreciate it. He had made Southwest Airlines a one-man show.

For a boy who grew up poor, Wolf acclimated himself easily to the badges of fortune.

As he had planned, Burr grafted the systems and culture of People Express onto Frontier; the disaster was monumental. Frontier had always been considered a classy airline, and the years of warfare with United and Continental had only brought out the best in service at all three. Now longtime Frontier passengers were being charged 50¢ for a cup of c

Kelleher perpetuated the company’s underdog spirit. He had never fully recovered from the legal battle to get Southwest aloft and the trauma of its harrowing shoestring days, and neither had the earliest generation of employees. Maintaining the culture of martyrdom became so essential a strategy that it overpowered other corporate objectives; South

phone at People Express told him that either there remained unrequited demand for cheap flights over the Atlantic or the service being provided was incompetent. Either way there was an opening.

24. At the height of Lorenzo’s borrowing, the cash that Lorenzo laid out in interest alone—more than $600 million a year—exceeded the annual sales for nearly 100 members of the Fortune 500. Alas for him, Lorenzo’s size also made him more visible, and more inviting, as a target.

“We are a highly financially successful airline, and the focus of the entire airline industry, the public, and the legislators in Washington,” the presentation read. “Maximization of the financial (e.g., cost cutting, marketing, peanuts fares, debt structure, etc.) was historically correct and absolutely essential for this company’s survival at one

Southwest’s new intrastate route was readily approved, and suddenly, at the nice round figure of $25 each way, Southwest was carrying close to a thousand people a day where Texas International had been lucky to carry a few hundred at $40. Before long, passengers from Mexico were coming over International Bridge in droves to seize the low fares. Har

The company was now losing something like $2 million a day. Pan Am’s personnel analysts observed a sudden, sharp increase in medical claims, apparently as employees hurried up elective medical attention on the expectation that their benefits might soon vanish.