Hard Landing

Thomas Petzinger Jr.

Business

Petzinger reconstructs the decade after airline deregulation in 1978, following the CEOs, union leaders, and regulators who fought over the wreckage of a government-protected industry suddenly exposed to competition. The book is a case study in how deregulation actually plays out—incumbents' desperate tactics, new entrants' advantages, and the human cost of creative destruction. Collison flagged it as particularly great.