Ganesh Sitaraman

In the pre-deregulation period, in the era of regulation, you would not have been allowed to become a monopoly because what the regulators did was they prevented any airline from becoming too powerful at any big airport. And that's what made the system work in a reasonable way.

In the pre-deregulation period, in the era of regulation, you would not have been allowed to become a monopoly because what the regulators did was they prevented any airline from becoming too powerful at any big airport. And that's what made the system work in a reasonable way.

In the pre-deregulation period, in the era of regulation, you would not have been allowed to become a monopoly because what the regulators did was they prevented any airline from becoming too powerful at any big airport. And that's what made the system work in a reasonable way.

Exactly. And so what you ended up with was a system where even in the 70s, the biggest airlines didn't really have a huge percentage of any of the major airports. You know, they might be in the 25, 30 percent range, but not like we're seeing today where it's twice that or more in some cases.

Exactly. And so what you ended up with was a system where even in the 70s, the biggest airlines didn't really have a huge percentage of any of the major airports. You know, they might be in the 25, 30 percent range, but not like we're seeing today where it's twice that or more in some cases.

Exactly. And so what you ended up with was a system where even in the 70s, the biggest airlines didn't really have a huge percentage of any of the major airports. You know, they might be in the 25, 30 percent range, but not like we're seeing today where it's twice that or more in some cases.

One of the really fun things about doing the research for the book was digging into what happened in airline deregulation and afterwards. And there's a real cast of characters of...

One of the really fun things about doing the research for the book was digging into what happened in airline deregulation and afterwards. And there's a real cast of characters of...

One of the really fun things about doing the research for the book was digging into what happened in airline deregulation and afterwards. And there's a real cast of characters of...

the heads of these airline companies in the 80s who are really ferociously fighting for market share and engaged in all kinds of what we would now say are anti-competitive business practices, but also creative and innovative business practices to try to win in what they knew was going to be a really difficult competitive environment.

the heads of these airline companies in the 80s who are really ferociously fighting for market share and engaged in all kinds of what we would now say are anti-competitive business practices, but also creative and innovative business practices to try to win in what they knew was going to be a really difficult competitive environment.

the heads of these airline companies in the 80s who are really ferociously fighting for market share and engaged in all kinds of what we would now say are anti-competitive business practices, but also creative and innovative business practices to try to win in what they knew was going to be a really difficult competitive environment.

The one character that I found really interesting was a guy named Robert Crandall. And Crandall ran American Airlines. for a long time, really legendary head of American. In the 1970s, when deregulation was being debated, he, like really almost all the major airline executives, were against deregulation. And that might be surprising. Usually industry is for deregulating.

The one character that I found really interesting was a guy named Robert Crandall. And Crandall ran American Airlines. for a long time, really legendary head of American. In the 1970s, when deregulation was being debated, he, like really almost all the major airline executives, were against deregulation. And that might be surprising. Usually industry is for deregulating.

The one character that I found really interesting was a guy named Robert Crandall. And Crandall ran American Airlines. for a long time, really legendary head of American. In the 1970s, when deregulation was being debated, he, like really almost all the major airline executives, were against deregulation. And that might be surprising. Usually industry is for deregulating.

But he and others said, you know, this is not a good thing because our industry works because of the system of regulation. Otherwise, you're going to end up with a lot of things that we've seen, really cutthroat competition, airlines going bankrupt, the need for public subsidies, loss of service.

But he and others said, you know, this is not a good thing because our industry works because of the system of regulation. Otherwise, you're going to end up with a lot of things that we've seen, really cutthroat competition, airlines going bankrupt, the need for public subsidies, loss of service.

But he and others said, you know, this is not a good thing because our industry works because of the system of regulation. Otherwise, you're going to end up with a lot of things that we've seen, really cutthroat competition, airlines going bankrupt, the need for public subsidies, loss of service.

I mean, all of these kinds of things he and others understood were likely to be a problem if you didn't have a system of regulation. And he's there at Congress and there are these hearings going on. And afterwards, he says to one of the people in the hearing, you academic, and there's an expletive, are going to ruin this industry. You don't understand it.

I mean, all of these kinds of things he and others understood were likely to be a problem if you didn't have a system of regulation. And he's there at Congress and there are these hearings going on. And afterwards, he says to one of the people in the hearing, you academic, and there's an expletive, are going to ruin this industry. You don't understand it.