R. E. G. Davies (1921–2011)

A Loving Hagiography.
A now extremely dated but still relevant history of airline pioneers covering the beginnings up through when the initial impact of deregulation was starting to be felt. Mr. Davies wasn’t modest in the breadth and depth of his scope either. He literally covers the civil airline upstarts of every continent but Antarctica. (It would have been interesting to see what his bio of Herb Kelleher would have been like had Davies lived a few years longer.)
The individual coverage of each of the twenty-five airline executives covered provides a brief biography covering their early life up to where appropriate at the time of writing, their death. On the way he describes the environment in which they worked from the technology of the day, to the geopolitical concerns, to the governments they were dealing, to with last but not least the pressures of their competition both at the airport and behind the scenes.
If you’re looking for a critical analysis of the airlines or the pioneers of each stage of growth up though the early ‘80’s, this is not the book for you. 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.
There is nothing here for modelers, and frankly only the fans of airline and or civil aviation will enjoy it. At the current Amazon prices? It’s a bargain and should be on the shelf of everyone who has an interest in the history of the airline industry.… (mehr)