 "Excellent" | 2009-06-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: ATPQ14SLC8VXR |
| If you only read one book about the history of aviation, make it this one. My only wish is he would right another one to cover the years after 9-11. Again gread book about many of the true facts behind aviation. I have been in this industry over 20 years and I still refer back to this book. |
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 "fast" | 2009-04-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1GTLA5VFZL6DB |
| i recieved my order in 4 days, than my class was canceled. Do you want to buy it back? |
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 "Why Are the Airlines the Way They Are?" | 2009-03-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: AHZUF1ZXJUAVK |
I read this book in the hopes of getting a better understanding of why the airline industry is the way it is today, and I don't feel I really did. Petzinger seems very interested in the personalities airline executives, and discussion of the effects of political, social, technological, and economic events on the airline industry seems to take a back seat.
While the book was fairly interesting, I found it quite slow to get through. I don't regret having read it, but I wouldn't be quick to recommend it. |
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| "masterpiece on the industry" | 2007-04-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2S5P6Q17C3N26 |
| I've worked in the airline and airplane game all my years and bought this book from Amazon a while back. It sat on the shelf until I got time to read it but when I picked it up I couldn't put it down. My biggest regret is taking so long to read it - a travesty. Having sat in rooms as part of negotiating such deals as taking over an airline, all the shady stuff is true and yet believable and entertaining. Add to that a great author with superb writing skills and I rate this one of the best. Buy the book! |
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| "Hang on for a rough and tumble ride!" | 2007-02-23 |
| - Reviewed By hoogejj |
The fundamental story of commercial aviation in the United States, as Eddie Rickenacker, aptly if not crassly said, is of "putting bums in seats."(175) At first there were no airline companies with aircraft or routes to transport those seats in which to place the bums. The public's early perception of flight as reckless and dangerous was not unwarranted. It took time for people to become comfortable with the concept of air transportation. Whether commercial aviation would have eventually emerged on its own, without the encouragement of federal involvement, is one of the great unknowns of modern times.
In any case, it was the Post Office Department that was the seedbed of America's commercial aviation industry. Under the tutelage and bulldog determination of Second Assistant Postmaster General Otto Praeger, a rudimentary experimental mail system took shape, proving scheduling reliability, if not profitability. From this tenuous beginning private commercial aviation took root within a permissive system of federal oversight. Until the DC-3 came along, a mail subsidy was the key to making a profit. The remarkable DC-3 was the first aircraft capable of operating profitably without carrying the mail.
The challenge of building a system capable of reliably and safely carrying people by air was, by the late nineteen thirties, largely resolved. Airlines were flying aircraft over established air routes to airports at cities across the country. An unanticipated consequence of this success was that ironically there were now too many seats! Carriers flew in direct competition in prime markets. Consequently none were making money and the industry was threatened by total collapse. What was the answer? Well of course, government help! The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 brought monopoly rights to air routes and direct federal economic regulation to the industry. This state existed for forty years, until the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 was enacted. The law removed the government from responsibility for awarding routes and establishing fares. What happened next is the subject of Thomas Petzinger's, Hard Landing.
Hard Landing is the story of the airline industry in the United States following deregulation. It is a rough and tumble ride typical of an airplane flight through bad weather. There was no doubt that the industry would survive, but there would be some sick passengers in route. New carriers emerged while some old-line pioneers disappeared. In command during this turbulent time the older generation of executives gave way to a new cadre of younger leaders. Petzinger focuses his story around these dynamic new leaders.
Fundamental to understanding the story is the power of the market place; "putting bums in seats." Once the aircraft leaves the gate any empty seat represents a lost opportunity. Airlines "sell one of the few products consumed while it is being produced." (xix) How an airline CEO managed his enterprise to fill those seats after deregulation would determined his company's success or failure. Operating an efficient airline in the post-regulated environment pitted managers in conflict externally with each other and internally with their own employees.
In the deregulated era, in addition to unregulated competition, executives had to deal with the controller's strike, recessions, accidents, fuel cost spikes, bankruptcies and wars. What kind of personal attributes attract individuals to aspire to leadership in this type of business and competitive arena? They are extreme types with some common denominators: a huge ego, an obsession with control, a single strategic vision, and a need to be at the center of all decision making.
At the highest level, at the airlines that matter, barely a dozen people have played this game in the past 25 years - a small group of white men who made the industry their sandlot from the late 1960s to the mid - 1990s. Although it was through their efforts that flying became inexpensive and commonplace, they entered the industry at a time when flying was special and when the men in charge were looked upon as demigods of the industrial world. (xx)
Airline executives are aggressor types. Indeed, Crandall's nickname was "Fang," though it was not used to his face. But not all executives were cutthroat. Kelleher and Marshall (British Airways) "distinguished themselves with dignity."(478)
Within the pages of Hard Landing there are few successes and many failures. Frank Lorenzo (Trans-Texas Airways, Texas International, Continental, New York Air, Eastern) was a central figure throughout the period. But not only did he lose out at the end of the game, he also ended up being remembered as a remorseless villain within the aviation community. Herbert Kelleher (Southwest), on the other hand, emerges as an innovative, charismatic leader of a perennially profitable carrier. Bob Crandall (American) earns our respect, if not our endearment. The peripatetic Stephen Wolf "turned around, and reaped tremendous profits at more airlines than perhaps any executive in aviation history" (479)
Petzinger's writing carries the reader along with the action but one of his strengths is in his explanation of airline economics. The competitive circumstances are made clear and the critical decisions are placed in context with marketing principles. The economic relationship of price and capacity are explained in understandable terms.
Trippe [Pan American Airlines] discovered what might be called The First Rule of Economics: If a plane is going to take off anyway - once the fuel is purchased and the pilot paid and the interest rendered on the money borrowed to buy the plane in the first place - any paying passenger or payload recruited to the flight is pure profit. The fare paid by the last passenger taken aboard represents a fabulously lucrative rate of return. (7)
Another rule of marketing was used by Southwest briefly when Braniff undercut its already low fares in an attempt to drive Southwest from the market. Southwest matched the fares but gave anyone who paid full fare a bottle of Chivas Regal.
For a time in 1973 Southwest had discovered another lesson in airline marketing: giving the expense-account customer something for free that he could take home instead of to the office - in short a kickback - won his undying loyalty. (37)
Southwest managed to hold on and prosper. Under deregulation Braniff filed for bankruptcy only to reemerge as a smaller Braniff II, which eventually failed completely.
Crandall combined American's informational technology advantage from its powerful Saber reservation system to create a method to win the undying loyalty of business travelers. Frequent Flier points rewarded frequent business travelers. In competition with the new entry and upstart carriers, yield management programs enabled dynamic carriers like American and United to compete against new lines such as People Express. People Express did not have a reservations system and would not pay to use American's. Passengers could not get through on the phone lines and customer service suffered. Donald Burr eventually was forced to sell People Express to his former boss and archrival, Frank Lorenzo.
People Express was folded into Continental just as were parts of Eastern. Eastern Airlines became another victim of deregulation under Frank Lorenzo`s heavy-handed style of aggressive management. In the process, former astronaut Frank Borman, departed the scene as well. Charlie Bryan, of Eastern's machinists union, dragged the carrier to the ground by his refusal to consider any labor concessions.
In Hard Landing, Petzinger discusses the effects of new aircraft such as the Boeing 767 as a smaller and more economical aircraft to use on long thin routes rather than the larger Boeing 747. He covers the controversy and ill will generated by Crandall's b-scale employee pay program. United's Boeing 737 featherbedding issue (two crew design, but third pilot required by a union contract) and employee buyout are explained. Pilot slowdowns and strikes, mergers and buyouts, and a myriad of other issues generated by deregulation are extensively described.
While Hard Landing traces the actions of a few dominant actors, not spoken about are the many employees who lived, prospered or suffered from the decisions made on high. The forces of the market place hit them too. Many of them lost jobs without any severance. Of all their bosses, only three executives, Herb Kelleher, Sir Collin Marshall, and Bob Crandall remained at the time Petzinger`s book was published. The others lost their executive positions but took some solace from their acquired wealth.
An additional point, which Petzinger makes, is the importance of the safety issue. All through this unsettled time, the executives and managers universally upheld the need for safety. While accidents occurred, the causes were not attributed to any broad industry problem. It should be noted that deregulation did not change government oversight of safety and operational scrutiny. Indeed the FAA conducted an extensive investigation of New York Air after it was reported that safety practices were being violated. None were found however.
The airline industry is experiencing another cycle of distress. As a consequence of the attacks on September 11, once again too many seats are available for the bums that want to fill them. Petzinger would well be advised to write a sequel entitled Harder Landing. In the history of the airline industry in the United States, each succeeding peak and valley seems to eclipse the one that came before. One day it is certain that the good times will return but for now, fasten your seat belts!
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| "An in-depth and fascinating look at the airline industry" | 2006-10-25 |
| - Reviewed By skihigh2002 |
Thomas Petzinger's Hard Landing is an in-depth and fascinating analysis of the history of the airline industry. Petzinger takes the reader from the birth of the airline industry just after World War I to the rise of industry giant Southwest Airlines. The book is not short. Including Petzinger's "Postscript to the Paperback Edition," Hard Landing is just short of five hundred pages long. The length of Hard Landing should not be a deterrent to the reader but rather an incentive. Petzinger filled Hard Landing with so much information that one is surprised he completed the book in five hundred pages. Petzinger's research is also noteworthy. Petzinger filled the bibliography with books, articles, papers, and primary source interviews that give Hard Landing a historical authenticity that many current books lack. Hard Landing should be read by anyone who has an interest in politics, the airline industry, history, and the combination thereof.
In Hard Landing, Thomas Petzinger transports the reader back the glory days of the airline industry. Early on, Petzinger introduces the mythological giants Herb Kelleher, Frank Lorenzo, and Bob Crandall early in their respective careers. Petzinger introduces most of his characters directly out of their respective Ivy League school. All men are classic airline giants--hard drinking, cursing, smoking, demonstrative men of the airline industry. Petzinger uses profanity-laced quotes to show the vigor with which the heads of the various airlines competed against each other. In some books, writers inappropriately use profanity to underscore points that ultimately require no underscoring. In Hard Landing, Petzinger selectively drops profanity filled quotes into the narrative to place the reader "in the action" of the story. This method works quite well as the reader will find him/herself unable to stop reading this insightful work.
The airline industry is a complex monstrosity. Petzinger deconstructs the industry with masterful precision. As an editor of the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Petzinger is likely accustomed to deconstructing complex stories. A search on Amazon.com reveals that Petzinger wrote two other books on complex subjects. Petzinger's other books deal with men and women in the modern marketplace and the large oil companies. Petzinger may not have aviation industry experience but it is quite clear that he researched Hard Landing meticulously and gave his subjects the utmost respect.
Some reviewers have criticized Petzinger for his focus only on America's airlines, specifically his focus on Texas-based airlines. This is an unfair criticism because it displays a lack of understanding of the history of the airline industry. Texas International, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Continental Airlines all have strong roots in Texas. Furthermore, Walter Folger Brown and the eventual Civil Aeronautics Board built the most extensive and successful airline structure in the world. Petzinger is correct to focus exclusively on the American airlines.
Beyond the history of the airline industry, Petzinger also shows the collusion between the airlines and the United States government. When the Carter Administration took office in 1977, the corruption and collusion between the airlines and the government reached a monumental scale. Petzinger's account of the political wrangling involved in the deregulation of the airline industry is simply fascinating. Many major political players of today played a major role in deregulation. Even George W. Bush's former Transportation Secretary, Norman Mineta, appears to provide the decisive vote needed to pass deregulation. Petzinger's political history is as fascinating as his airline industry history.
Petzinger makes an interesting point in his postscript. When he completed Hard Landing in the late 1990's, the airlines were in a period of relative calm. In the final lines of Hard Landing, Petzinger says, "Only when the economy again moved into the minus column would anyone know for sure whether the leaders of the industry had changed their war-mongering ways, or whether at last, they, and their industry, had matured." Subsequent to the tragic events of September 11, it is safe to say that the airline industry has moved into the "minus column" once again. The amazing airline drama continues. |
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