Hard Landing (86 page)

81.
pronunciation guide:
Falcon
, Eastern Air Lines, May 12, 1982.

82.
noisily demonstrating: “Eastern Air Had 1st Period Loss of $514 Million,” by John D. Williams,
WSJ
, Apr. 28, 1982.

83.
“here it comes again”: Barber 6/21/94 interview.

84.
“a few six-packs”: Smaby
et al.
, May 1987.

85.
NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN
: Banks, in
Labor Research Review
, Winter 1984.

86.
aides were jubilant: Magurno 3/11/94 interview.

87.
Both groups indicated: Borman,
Countdown
, page 390.

88.
“kill these guys”: Magurno 3/11/94 interview.

89.
In good faith I took:
The poem appears in Banks, in
Labor Research Review
, Winter 1984, and is used with permission.

90.
“the end of Eastern”: Borman,
Countdown
, page 389.

91.
“If the union doesn’t accept”: Quoted in Smaby
et al.
, May 1987.

92.
“personal guru”: Borman,
Countdown
, page 385.

93.
Born in Wyoming: Barber 6/21/94 interview.

94.
“In business schools”: Quoted in Borman,
Countdown
, page 385.

95.
brought in some pals: Barber 6/21/94 interview.

96.
12 days’ worth of cash: Smaby
et al.
, May 1987.

97.
contract to kill: Borman 1/29/94 interview.

98.
9 mm … pistol:
Ibid
.

99.
fact-finding mission: Borman 1/29/94 interview.

100.
Willard C. Butcher:
Ibid
. Borman also discussed the meeting in Deposition of Frank Borman, Apr. 26, 1988.

101.
not a strikebreaker: Borman 1/29/94 interview. Butcher denies making any inflammatory remarks but does not dispute the gist of Borman’s account.

102.
ballots recounted: Smaby
et al.
, May 1987.

103.
lording their victory: Banks, in
Labor Research Review
, Winter 1984.

104.
“We were raped!”: Borman,
Countdown
, page 391.

Chapter 8: Stormy Weather

1.
“Safety … lay in speed”: Lindbergh,
The Spirit of St. Louis
, page 290.

2.
cigarette smoke: Grey,
The Facts of Flight
, page 24.

3.
Each square foot: Serling,
Loud and Clear
, page 40.

4.
Air Florida Flight 90: The account of the crash is based mostly on the
Aircraft Accident Report
of the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB-AAR-82-8, Aug. 10, 1982. Additional insights were obtained from an excellent reconstruction in Nance,
Blind Trust
.

5.
after leaving Braniff: Though not affirming legal travails as the reason for his departure from Braniff, Acker provided the details of his post-Braniff career in the 6/3/93 interview.

6.
reminded Acker of … Southwest:
Ibid
.

7.
“worse than dope”: Quoted in “At the Controls of Pan Am,” by Thomas L. Friedman,
NYT
, Aug. 28, 1981.

8.
controlling interest: Acker’s turnaround moves at Air Florida were detailed in the Acker interviews of 1/7/93 and 6/3/93 and, among other places, in “Air Florida, Soaring Out of Obscurity, Becomes Profitable,
Feisty Contender,” by Roger Thurow,
WSJ
, Aug. 17, 1978; and Friedman,
NYT
, Aug. 28, 1981; “Air Florida’s Fortunes Soar in Six Market Areas,” by Joseph S. Murphy,
Airline Executive
, May 1980.

9.
“a warm climate”: Thurow,
WSJ
, Aug. 17, 1978.

10.
“flights for a kiss”: “Highly Publicized Cuts in Airline Fares Mask Rapid Escalation of Ticket Prices,” by William M. Carley,
WSJ
, Oct. 8, 1980.

11.
dog-eared copy: Friedman,
NYT
, Aug. 28, 1981.

12.
“darling of deregulation”:
Ibid
.

13.
“ablest of the entrepreneurs”: “Putting Pan Am Back Together Again,” by Louis Kraar,
Fortune
, Dec. 28, 1981.

14.
“corporate success stories”: “Air Florida’s Future Open to Question Following Acker’s Surprise Departure,” by Chester Goolrick,
WSJ
, Aug. 27, 1981.

15.
profits were subsidized: Lloyd-Jones 3/10/94 interview.

16.
“talked to Cunard Lines”: Quoted in “Pan Am’s Brash New Pilot,”
Newsweek
, Sept. 7, 1981.

17.
dentist in Key West: Air Florida System, Inc., proxy statement, Dec. 29, 1978.

18.
access in the Keys: Acker 6/3/93 interview.

19.
“kids are just crapping”: The NTSB transcript says “are just #.”

20.
reservations evaporated: “How Two Airlines Lost Their Way,”
BW
, Apr. 19, 1982.

21.
revenue vanished:
Ibid
.

22.
saw no merit: The account of Acker’s turnaround moves is based on the Acker 6/3/93 interview; “Risky Flying: In Bid to Save Pan Am, New Chief Trims Fares Instead of Operations,” by William M. Carley,
WSJ
, Dec. 11, 1981; and “Putting Pan Am Back Together Again,” by Louis Kraar,
Fortune
, Dec. 28, 1981.

23.
flight to … Bermuda: Shugrue 9/8/93 interview.

24.
“just
tell
them”: Acker 6/3/93 interview.

25.
cigarette butts: Shugrue 9/8/93 interview.

26.
counted his chauffeur: Acker 6/3/93 interview.

27.
hundreds of ticket stubs: Shugrue 9/8/93 interview.

28.
away from the gate: C. Edward Acker, speech to Pan Am Management Club, Miami, Oct. 13, 1981.

29.
“powerful force”: Quoted in “Clipped Wings: Is Pan Am’s Strategy the Airline’s Salvation or Its Death Sentence?” by William M. Carley,
WSJ
, Feb. 12, 1986.

30.
“does he work for us?”: Wolf 6/4/93 interview.

31.
turned around to see: Gitner 3/31/93 interview.

32.
“What’s that doing here?”:
Ibid
.

33.
search plane: Shugrue 5/14/93 interview.

34.
Wolf’s … sanctimony: Wolf 6/4/93 interview.

35.
“no choice”: Kraar,
Fortune
, Dec. 28, 1981.

36.
“terrific travel bargain”: Acker speech, Oct. 13, 1981.

37.
flipped the pages: Acker 6/3/93 interview; Kraar,
Fortune
, Dec. 28, 1981.

38.
Laker’s operation was dead: Laker’s failure, which was due to a number of causes, generated a thicket of antitrust litigation as well as a U.S. grand jury investigation that caused diplomatic stress between the United States and Britain. Ultimately President Reagan quashed the probe at the urging of Prime Minister Thatcher. These intrigues are worthy of a book in their own right, but not a glossed-over account in this one.

39.
“I didn’t mind”: Acker 6/3/93 interview.

40.
ACKER BACKER
: Kriendler 5/12/93 interview.

41.
“dedicate ourselves”: Letter from C. Edward Acker to Pan Am employees, May 10, 1982.

42.
heavily unionized airline: “The Golden Years,”
Avmark Aviation Economist
, June 1986.

43.
operate forklifts: Shugrue 5/14/93 interview.

44.
close family friend: Shugrue 9/8/93 interview.

45.
serious bind: The description of the lie is based on the Shugrue 9/8/93 interview; “Pan Am Strike by TWU Is Viewed as Stemming from Personality Conflicts and Economic Woes,” by William M. Carley,
WSJ
, March 6, 1985; Carley,
WSJ
, Feb. 12, 1986; and
Pan American World Airways, Inc., Financial Analysis
, Lazard Frères & Co. Jan. 31, 1985.

Chapter 9: Continental Divide

1.
imagined himself a builder: Lorenzo 5/5/88 interview.

2.
51 percent: Bakes 5/12/93 interview. In 1982 Texas Air completed the takeover by exchanging some of its own shares for the remaining shares of Continental. The financial mechanics of the Continental perchange are detailed in
Continental Airlines Preliminary Prospectus
, Mar. 18, 1983.

3.
called Bob Six: Murphy,
The Airline That Pride Almost Bought
, page 25.

4.
Feldman was an engineer: The description of Feldman’s career and his turnaround moves at Frontier are based on several interviews with his friend Travis Reed and on a number of published accounts, including “Frontier’s Planning Serves It Well in Good Times and Bad,” by
James P. Woolsey,
Air Transport World
, August 1980; and Murphy,
The Airline That Pride Almost Bought
, pages 9-11.

5.
purple vulture: Reed 5/31/94 interview.

6.
threw himself into his work: “Continental Air Chairman Found Dead in His Office, Apparently a Suicide,” by Roy J. Harris, Jr.,
WSJ
, Aug. 11, 1981.

7.
“first time … I’ve ever lost”: Quoted in Murphy,
The Airline That Pride
, page 47.

8.
hottest free agent: Reed 6/2/94 interview.

9.
“necessary to renegotiate”: Quoted in Murphy,
The Airline That Pride
, page 38.

10.
“must tell you”: Letter from A. L. Feldman, Continental Airlines, to Francisco A. Lorenzo, Apr. 3, 1981.

11.
Lorenzo was bothered: “Texas Air’s Lorenzo Hopes to Pilot Continental Airlines into His Hangar,” by Roger Thurow,
WSJ
, Apr. 23, 1981.

12.
prove himself worthy: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

13.
angry Continental employees: Murphy,
The Airline That Pride
, page 110.

14.
filled with dread: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

15.
“authorized representative”: Bakes’s remarks, and those of Dennis Higgins that follow, are based on videotape shot by a television crew and later presented to Higgins.

16.
thronged by microphones: Lavender 6/16/93 interview.

17.
chilling glare: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

18.
“made you feel dirty”: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

19.
“Get the fuck:” Bakes 5/12/93 interview. Bakes is also the source of the Maxine Waters anecdote.

20.
around the Senate chambers: “How Texas Air Won Its Fight,”
BW
, Oct. 26, 1981, and Murphy,
The Airline That Pride
, pages 187-88.

21.
brother-in-law:
BW
, Oct. 26, 1981.

22.
see Rostenkowski: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

23.
with Sen. Lloyd Bentsen: Lavender 6/16/93 interview.

24.
Bakes and Lorenzo collapsed: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

25.
adventurous … vacations: Reed 6/1/94 interview.

26.
“100 percent immersed”: Reed 6/2/94 interview.

27.
“big drinks”:
Ibid
.

28.
nine banks … were withdrawing: Harris,
WSJ
, Aug. 11, 1981.

29.
before 6
P.M.
: The facts of Feldman’s death are detailed in the report written by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, Case No. 81-10225, Aug. 9, 1981.

30.
Lorenzo … had resisted: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

31.
first for breakfast:
Ibid
.

32.
“I’ve just gotten word”:
Ibid
.

33.
“You killed him!”:
Ibid
. Lavender, in the 6/16/93 interview, recalled a member of his group turning to Bakes and shouting, “Are you happy now?”

34.
color vanish: Bakes 5/12/93 interview.

35.
“next plane out”:
Ibid
.