Hard Landing (82 page)

62.
legendary Dan London: Ferris 5/28/93 interview; Carlson,
Recollections
, pages 226, 234.

63.
“work at the Olympic”: Ferris 5/28/93 interview.

64.
brash letter: Richard J. Ferris to Edward E. Carlson, Feb. 26, 1962.

65.
“show business”: Ferris 5/28/93 interview.

66.
“full of myself”: Ferris 5/27/93 interview.

67.
a fabled enterprise: Nielsen,
From Sky Girl to Flight Attendant
, page 17; Solberg,
Conquest of the Skies
, pages 219-20.

68.
membership in the Fortune 500: The food operation would have ranked roughly 400 on the list, comparable to such household name companies as Mattel, Green Giant, and Max Factor.

69.
jabbing his finger: Putnam 10/13/93 interview.

70.
reducing … steak:
WSJ
, March 2, 1979.

71.
shared his thinking: Carlson,
Recollections
, pages 236-38.

72.
spent weeks agonizing:
Ibid.
, page 237.

73.
“reservations about Ferris”:
Ibid.
, page 238.

74.
“ ‘boy wonder’ success”: “New UAL Chief Must Earn Wings,” by Leonard Wiener,
Chicago Tribune
, May 2, 1979.

75.
Crandall was jarred: Hopper 10/13/93 interview; Copeland,
IEEE Annals in the History of Computing
, 1995.

76.
Ferris … looked warily: Ferris 5/27/93 and 5/28/93 interviews.

77.
months studying the issues: Ferris 5/27/93 interview; Zeeman 7/23/93 interview.

78.
ordered his field managers: Crandall, speech to management meeting, DFW, 1976.

79.
United was warning agents: Hopper 4/22/93 interview.

80.
“Where do we go”: Crandall, speech to management meeting, DFW, 1976.

81.
“short white socks”: Gunn 9/1/93 interview.

82.
$800,000 worth: “Automation: The First 25 Years,”
ASTA Agency Management
, Nov. 1989.

83.
Crandall blew his stack: The harried takeover was described in the Murray 9/4/93 interview, the Hopper 10/13/93 interview, and in a speech by Crandall to First Boston Clients, Mar. 11, 1986.

84.
enticing agents: The birth of “override” commissions in the CRS wars was described in interviews with Lazarus, Zeeman, and Gunn, and in a variety of industry and government publications about the growth of the CRS industry.

85.
“highly confidential”: Gunn, speech to 1984 American Airlines marketing meeting.

86.
United had no idea: This point is conceded by Ferris and Zeeman.

87.
a questionable business practice: Zeeman 7/23/93 interview.

88.
generation of charter operators: “Charter Growth Sparks Concern,” by Rosalind K. Ellingsworth,
Aviation Week
, Feb. 28, 1977.

89.
no panacea either: “American Fare Bid Draws Fire,” by Laurence Doty,
Aviation Week
, Feb. 21, 1977.

90.
Crandall finally decided: Baker 4/23/93 interview; Plaskett 4/21/93 interview.

91.
“pretend the empty part”: The account of the origins of super savers is based on the Crandall 4/23/93 interview and the Kaldahl 4/27/93 interview. Varying accounts also appear in Serling,
Eagle;
Reed,
American Eagle;
and Peterson and Glab,
Rapid Descent
.

92.
glared through a window: The Venetian blind incident was partially described in “Frequent Crier: American Airlines Boss Blossoms as Champion of the Poor Passenger,” by Francis C. Brown III,
WSJ
, Mar. 4, 1988. The circumstances of Crandall’s outburst and the order for a special computer instruction against TWA were described in the Murray 9/4/93 interview.

Chapter 4: “In the Public Interest”

1.
a brilliant day: Bakes 5/11/93 and 6/16/94 interviews.

2.
Breyer wondered: Breyer’s line of inquiry is detailed in “Memorandum to Thomas McBride from Stephen Breyer,” Aug. 2, 1973, made
available by the National Archives under the Freedom of Information Act.

3.
lost its way: Breyer’s views are detailed in Breyer,
Regulation and Its Reform
, and in “Airline Deregulation in America,” by Stephen Breyer,
ITA Magazine
, May 1986.

4.
resurrect … Watergate: Bradley Behrman, “Civil Aeronautics Board,” in Wilson,
The Politics of Regulation
, page 100.

5.
most vexing problem:
Ibid.
, page 102.

6.
“nonglamorous … job”: Breyer,
Regulation and Its Reform
, page 323.

7.
“let’s get rid”: Bakes 5/11/93 interview.

8.
bow and scrape:
Ibid
.

9.
“the inherent tendency”: Keyes,
Federal Control of Entry into Air Transportation
, page 326.

10.
“unnecessarily high fares”: “Is Air Regulation Necessary?” by Michael E. Levine,
Yale Law Journal
, July 1965.

11.
“raise cost to the level”: Kahn,
The Economics of Regulation
, page 209.

12.
“rat is a bird”: Lazarus 6/10/93 interview.

13.
Ferris had an open mind: Ferris described his thought process in the 5/27/93 interview and in “Proposed Policy on Regulatory Reform,” presented to United board of directors, Aug. 26, 1976.

14.
Ferris presented … a long report: “Proposed Policy,” Aug. 26, 1976.

15.
growing enamored: Zeeman 7/23/93 interview.

16.
Bakes felt the same … compulsion: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

17.
hotel fire alarm: Lazarus 6/10/93 interview; Bakes 6/11/93 interview.

18.
For eight days: The hearing record is contained in U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure,
Oversight of Civil Aeronautics Board Practice and Procedure
, Feb. 6, 14, 18, 19, 25, and 26, Mar. 4 and 21, 1975.

19.
officials were carefully chosen: Brown,
The Politics of Airline Deregulation
, page 107; Breyer,
Regulation and Its Reform
, pages 327-28.

20.
“find a scandal”: Bakes 5/11/93 interview.

21.
“The only word … flashing”: Transcript, U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure,
Inquiry into the Failure of the CAB to Investigate Fully Certain Violations of the Federal Campaign Laws
, Mar. 21, 1975.

22.
“dishonor of the fool”: Letter from William Gingery to subcommittee staff, Feb. 15, 1975, appearing in
ibid
.

23.
“Total deregulation”: “Borman to the Rescue,” by James Conaway,
New York Times Magazine
, May 9, 1976.

24.
the same rhetoric: Bakes 5/11/93 interview.

25.
47 flight attendants:
Ibid
.

26.
Bakes … relentlessly flirted:
Ibid
.

27.
rendezvous with Al Casey:
Ibid
.

28.
one of Bakes’s colleagues: Bakes 6/16/94 interview.

29.
“naturally competitive”: “Options on Airline Regulation Reform,” memo to the President-elect from Simon Lazarus, Mary Schuman, and Harrison Wellford, Dec. 22, 1976.

30.
strengthened the call: Cohen 2/16/93 interview; “American Fare Bid Draws Fire,” by Laurence Doty,
Aviation Week
, Feb. 21, 1977.

31.
United held back: Lazarus 6/10/93 interview; “Airlines Unable to Agree on Regulatory Reform Stance,”
Aviation Daily
, Mar. 3, 1977.

32.
quit frolicking: Boies 11/11/93 interview.

33.
three to four years: Ferris 5/27/93 interview.

34.
“Properly written”: Remarks by Monte Lazarus to United board meeting, Jan. 27, 1977.

35.
began to applaud: Lazarus 6/10/93 interview.

36.
“first question”: Quoted in “Washington Roundup,”
Aviation Week
, Feb. 28, 1977.

37.
“As a first step: “Airline Industry Regulation,”
Public Papers of the Presidents: Jimmy Carter
.

38.
speech at the Commonwealth Club: “Chief of UAL’s United Favors ‘Philosophy’ of Regulatory Reform,”
WSJ
, Mar. 14, 1977.

39.
“the greatest thing”: Quoted in “Winning His Wings: United Airlines’ Ferris Sets Expansion Plans, Alarms Carrier’s Rivals,”
WSJ
, Mar. 2, 1979.

40.
scheduling their bosses together: Bakes 5/11/93 interview; Lazarus 6/10/93 interview.

41.
inserted whole: Lazarus 6/10/93 interview.

42.
turned to Al Feldman:
Ibid
.

43.
buy off the unions: Bakes 5/11/93 interview.

44.
“hardest to destroy”: From “Essay on Bureaucracy,” by Max Weber, in Rourke,
Bureaucratic Power in National Politics
, page 58.

45.
only sensible course: Robson 1/7/93 interview.

46.
furiously lobbied: Cohen 2/16/93 interview.

47.
writing a dissent:
Ibid
.

48.
visibly startled: Brown,
The Politics of Airline Deregulation
, page 113.

49.
“mesmerized by computer models”: U.S. Senate,
Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Aviation
, Apr. 1, 1977.

50.
“fucking academic eggheads”: Bakes 5/11/93 interview. Crandall does not recall the comment but does not deny making it.

51.
In contemplating candidates:
Ibid
.

52.
“free-fire zone”: “CAB Proposes 50% Fare Cut Zone,”
Aviation Week
, Apr. 10, 1978.

53.
“get big quick”: Ferris 5/28/93 interview.

54.
death of the senior senator: “Washington Update,”
National Journal
, Dec. 3, 1977.

55.
“help raising some money”: Bakes 5/12/93 interview. Mineta’s staff, though confirming Kennedy’s appearance at a fundraiser, said it was unrelated to his stance on deregulation.

56.
a $433,000 tax reimbursement: Bakes 5/11/93 interview. Bakes recalls Frontier seeking a $10 million subsidy but contemporaneous accounts cite $433,000.

57.
a thumbs-up: Lazarus 6/10/93 interview.

58.
Bakes and … Kennedy pressed themselves: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

59.
“For the first time”: Quoted in
Congressional Quarterly Almanac
, 95th Congress, 2nd Session, 1978.

60.
spectacle ensued: “Airline Emissaries Rush to CAB Offices for Dormant Routes,”
WSJ
, Oct. 20, 1978; “The Line Forms Here for Air Routes,”
BW
, Nov. 6,1978; and “Dormant Authority Rush Begins,”
Aviation Week
, Oct. 30, 1978. The CAB remained in existence in shrunken form for several years as its powers were taken away or, in a few cases, shifted to other federal agencies.

61.
carrying a gun: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

62.
no one holding a place: Gitner 3/16/93 interview.

Chapter 5: Start-ups and Upstarts

1.
baby elephant defecated: Hicks 6/14/93 interview.

2.
Deregulation, in his view: Lorenzo 5/5/88 interview.

3.
“somebody else’s sandwich”:
Ibid
.

4.
Burr … worshiped him: Burr 9/16/93 and 9/17/93 interviews.

5.
true soul mate: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

6.
impressed by Burr’s ability: Quoted in “Growing Pains at People Express,” by Reggi Ann Dubin,
BW
, Jan. 28, 1985.

7.
Idi Amin: Burr compared Lorenzo to any number of dictators in the interviews of 9/16/93 and 9/17/93.

8.
veins in his temples: Burr 9/16/93 interview.

9.
Who’s going to get it: Dawsey 9/16/93 interview.

10.
“run a lawn mower”: Burr 9/16/93 interview.