Description

A still relevant history of airline pioneers covering the beginnings up through when the initial impact of deregulation was starting to be felt. It covers the civil airline upstarts of every continent but Antarctica.
The individual coverage of each of the twenty-five airline executives covered provides a brief biography and describes the environment in which they worked from the technology of the day, to the geopolitical concerns, to the governments they were dealing and the pressures of their competition both at the airport and behind the scenes.
This is an entertaining read of how numerous men pushed past the barriers and the technology to build their own empires. Not every chapter has a happy ending for the airline or the person involved, but each of the twenty-five was indeed initially successful and enjoyed a period of success which is celebrated in this book.