Ganesh Sitaraman

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.

But then when deregulation happens and he becomes head of American, I would say he is one of the most aggressive players in navigating through that environment, trying to win that Hunger Games. He was going to play by the rules of the game and was a cutthroat shark like everyone else.

But then when deregulation happens and he becomes head of American, I would say he is one of the most aggressive players in navigating through that environment, trying to win that Hunger Games. He was going to play by the rules of the game and was a cutthroat shark like everyone else.

But then when deregulation happens and he becomes head of American, I would say he is one of the most aggressive players in navigating through that environment, trying to win that Hunger Games. He was going to play by the rules of the game and was a cutthroat shark like everyone else.

Yeah, so it actually comes out of deregulation. After deregulation, when there's this need to compete really ferociously with all these other airlines... the airlines start thinking about what they can do to keep people with them as opposed to going to some competitor.

Yeah, so it actually comes out of deregulation. After deregulation, when there's this need to compete really ferociously with all these other airlines... the airlines start thinking about what they can do to keep people with them as opposed to going to some competitor.

Yeah, so it actually comes out of deregulation. After deregulation, when there's this need to compete really ferociously with all these other airlines... the airlines start thinking about what they can do to keep people with them as opposed to going to some competitor.

So Crandall and American come up with this idea of the frequent flyer program to give their frequent flyers additional benefits so that they'll stay with American and not go to others. Now, obviously, the purpose of this is to keep the travelers with your airline. And people at the time in the 80s thought of frequent flyer programs as anti-competitive. That itself is kind of interesting.

So Crandall and American come up with this idea of the frequent flyer program to give their frequent flyers additional benefits so that they'll stay with American and not go to others. Now, obviously, the purpose of this is to keep the travelers with your airline. And people at the time in the 80s thought of frequent flyer programs as anti-competitive. That itself is kind of interesting.

So Crandall and American come up with this idea of the frequent flyer program to give their frequent flyers additional benefits so that they'll stay with American and not go to others. Now, obviously, the purpose of this is to keep the travelers with your airline. And people at the time in the 80s thought of frequent flyer programs as anti-competitive. That itself is kind of interesting.

But then they've changed so much over time. And I think the changes are pretty interesting, too. So early on, the programs were pretty simple. I mean, you can think of them almost like the punch card at your airport. favorite coffee shop or something where, you know, buy 10, get the 11th one free kind of thing. The first big change, I think at least, was really American again.

But then they've changed so much over time. And I think the changes are pretty interesting, too. So early on, the programs were pretty simple. I mean, you can think of them almost like the punch card at your airport. favorite coffee shop or something where, you know, buy 10, get the 11th one free kind of thing. The first big change, I think at least, was really American again.

But then they've changed so much over time. And I think the changes are pretty interesting, too. So early on, the programs were pretty simple. I mean, you can think of them almost like the punch card at your airport. favorite coffee shop or something where, you know, buy 10, get the 11th one free kind of thing. The first big change, I think at least, was really American again.

And they partnered with Citibank to offer a credit card that would be branded and, you know, the points would be redeemable for flights on the airline. The second big change is really diffuse, occurs across all the airlines. But in the 90s, what the airlines did was they really proliferated the number of fare classes.

And they partnered with Citibank to offer a credit card that would be branded and, you know, the points would be redeemable for flights on the airline. The second big change is really diffuse, occurs across all the airlines. But in the 90s, what the airlines did was they really proliferated the number of fare classes.

And they partnered with Citibank to offer a credit card that would be branded and, you know, the points would be redeemable for flights on the airline. The second big change is really diffuse, occurs across all the airlines. But in the 90s, what the airlines did was they really proliferated the number of fare classes.

Now, that's just a complicated way of saying they're charging different prices for tickets. And so once you recognize that you're not just charging the same price for every ticket, but you can charge more or less to different people in different times, different seats, and you have different types of tickets, that makes the whole fare system way more complicated.

Now, that's just a complicated way of saying they're charging different prices for tickets. And so once you recognize that you're not just charging the same price for every ticket, but you can charge more or less to different people in different times, different seats, and you have different types of tickets, that makes the whole fare system way more complicated.

Now, that's just a complicated way of saying they're charging different prices for tickets. And so once you recognize that you're not just charging the same price for every ticket, but you can charge more or less to different people in different times, different seats, and you have different types of tickets, that makes the whole fare system way more complicated.

And then the third change I really think about as one that Virgin America did in the 2000s, and that was recognizing that once you have these complicated fare structures, What's really important to the airline is not that you flew on the airline five times, but how much money you spent. So what really might matter is just... the spend, not the number of flights.