US Airlines History outlines the development of the commercial airline industry in the United States over several parts: Part 1 discusses the early history including the Wright brothers' first flight in 1903, the growth of air mail services in the 1920s-1930s which led to the establishment of the first major airlines like United, Eastern, and Pan Am. Part 2 covers the introduction of government regulation of the industry through the establishment of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to regulate fares and entry/exit to routes. Part 3 notes the transition to jet aircraft in the 1950s with planes like the Boeing 707 and the start of non-stop transcontinental flights, but also the issue of half

1. US Airlines History
based on “Hard Landing” book

3. Part 1. Air Mail

4. 1903 -
Wright brothers

5. Charles Lindbergh

6. Air mail

7. Privatisation
Boeing - Chicago to SF —> United
Airlines
Rickenbacker - Atlanta to Miami —>
Eastern Air
Trippe & Lindbergh - St. Louis to
Chicago, NY to Boston —> Pan Am

8. First Rule of
Airline Economics
If a plan is going to take off
anyway — any paying passenger or
payload is almost pure profit

9. World’s busiest airport
in 1930 - Tulsa, OK

10. Airmail reform -
Pay per distance & volume,
not weight
Walter
Folger
Brown

11. Big Four
3 routes from NYC to CA
United —> northern route
TWA —> center route
American —> southern route
Eastern —> north to south on East
Coast

12. Part 2. Government
regulation

13. Eastern vs Braniff
$0,00001907378 bid

14. C. R. Smith

15. Birth of CAB

16. Cost-based pricing

17. Part 3. Jet Age

18. Boeing 707

19. Half-empty planes

20. Service, food &
booze wars

21. John Robson
comes…

22. Part 4. Southwest

23. Herb Kelleher

24. Pacific Southwest
Airlines

25. Southwest Airlines

26. Elements
Veteran pilots
Retired American Airlines flight
attendants (<32 year policy)
Three 737s

27. DFW

28. Dallas Love Field

29. Love Campaign

30. Love Attendants

31. 1972 crisis at LUV
Sold a plane (4 planes at the moment)
10 min turnaround
Pilots and supervisors helped with baggage
Tickets collected onboard
Food & drinks restocked thought the rear door
while passengers deplaning through the front
Flight attendants removed trash

32. Off-peak rate - 10$

33. Second Rule of
Airline Economics
Giving the expense-account
customer something for free
that he could take home
instead of to the office - in short,
kickback, won his undying loyalty

34. Part 5. Wall Street
meets Airlines

35. Frank Lorenzo

36. Don Burr

37. Key events
Jet Capital & $1.5M raise
Texas International & youngest
president in commercial aviation
Peanuts fares and 600% increase in
7 days

38. Part 6. Network wars

39. Bob Crandall, American Airlines

40. Manual Reservation —> 20 separate
communications for 1 passenger
traveling on 2 connecting airlines

41. Mechanical System

42. OAG &
“listing bias”

43. Birth of SABRE

44. Richard Ferris, United Airlines

45. American Society of
Travel Agents meeting

46. Screen bias

47. To be continued…