After a full century of flight, there’s no doubt that –Internet aside –civilian air travel has done more to shrink our planet than any other industry. The first commercial passenger flight in 1916 cost $5, and operated between Tampa and St. Petersburg. Things have progressed quite a bit since then. When US troops were tipped off to German jet blueprints, Boeing invested $155M in today’s money to develop the world’s first commercial jet –the 707. Overseas flights became common, and air travel became as glamorous as the poshest of hotels, clubs and catwalks.
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14: Where Disruption Takes Flight
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But the exclusivity and expense of passenger flights quickly came into the crosshairs. Upstart carriers not subject to strict government regulations attempted to undercut the jet set, and Southwest Airlines needed to take to the courts before it could take to the skies. By 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act launched the price wars, kicking off a race for air travel efficiency that hasn’t really ended since. Coast-to-coast flights in the US remain cheaper (and much faster) than driving.
Today, air travel is all about information. Frequent flier programs are as numerous as planes in the air. Behavioral data at purchase is turning “abandoned cart” consumers into repeat customers. Soon, we will one day possess device-and app-based digital assistants who will be able to know exactly how and when we like to fly, and one-click, on-demand travel will take travel to a whole new altitude. The Uber-ization of air travel will bring the skies to Silicon Valley, and as flying becomes easier and more user-friendly, there’s no telling where our next destination will be.
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What you’ll hear in this episode
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- The $41,000 flight from New York to Abu Dhabi that’s totally worth it
- The $5 flight between Tampa and St. Petersburg that totally wasn’t
- Imagine flying, but while listening to a chainsaw the whole way
- Planes used to make 12 stops between New York and Los Angeles
- The discovery in the bottom of a well that led to the dawn of the jet age
- The largest building by volume in the world, and why it’s important
- Imagine a plane whose wingspan is longer than the first flight (you don’t have to, it already exists, and has for a while)
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- How a Kennedy led the charge to make air travel accessible for all
- The fierce air war that didn’t involve guns or fighter jets
- How booze helped conquer the bourgeois
- Who was the largest liquor distributor in the State of Texas in the 1970s?
- The advantage that led to the AAdvantage
- Could finding flights be more like Amazon or Uber?
- How abandoned carts help fill planes
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“If I can do one-click shopping for some item that I want to buy from Amazon within seconds and it's done. Why is it taking me hours to shop for air transportation and air travel?”
Nawal Taneja, Author, 21st Century Airlines: Connecting the Dots
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Guest list
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Russ Banham
Is a corporate historian who wrote Higher: 100 Years of Boeing and a journalist who's contributed to Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Time and The Economist.
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Robert Crandall
Is the former president and chairman of American Airlines. He is now retired.
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Kevin Freiberg
Is a bestselling author and thought leader. He is the co-author of Nuts!: Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success.
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Tom Petzinger
Is the author of Hard Landing: The Epic Contest for Power and Profits That Plunged the Airlines into Chaos. He was a long time Wall Street Journal reporter and editor and now works as a biotech entrepreneur.
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Nawal Taneja
Is the author of Airline Industry: Poised for Disruptive Innovation? And 21st Century Airlines: Connecting the Dots. He is an airline business strategist and emeritus aviation professor at Ohio State University.
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