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Sometimes the planes don't fly on time.

Bennie Ford, a fifty-three-year-old failed poet turned translator, is traveling to his estranged daughter's wedding when his flight is canceled Stuck with thousands of fuming passengers in the purgatory of O'Hare airport, he watches the clock tick and realizes that he will miss the ceremony. Frustrated, irate, and helpless, Bennie does the only thing he can: he starts to write a letter. But what begins as a hilariously excoriating demand for a refund soon becomes a lament for a life gone awry, for years misspent, talent wasted, and happiness lost. A man both sinned against and sinning, Bennie writes in a voice that is a marvel of lacerating wit, heart-on-sleeve emotion, and wide-ranging erudition, underlined by a consistent groundnote of regret for the actions of a lifetime -- and made all the more urgent by the fading hope that if he can just make it to the wedding, he might have a chance to do something right.

A margarita blend of outrage, wicked humor, vulnerability, intelligence, and regret, Dear American Airlines gives new meaning to the term "airport novel" and announces the emergence of major new talent in American fiction..
Price: $12.78 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Oh, screw it, let's do it."

That's the philosophy that has allowed Richard Branson, in slightly more than twenty-five years, to spawn so many successful ventures. From the airline business (Virgin Atlantic Airways), to music (Virgin Records and V2), to cola (Virgin Cola), to retail (Virgin Megastores), and nearly a hundred others, ranging from financial services to bridal wear, Branson has a track record second to none.

Losing My Virginity is the unusual, frequently outrageous autobiography of one of the great business geniuses of our time. When Richard Branson started his first business, he and his friends decided that "since we're complete virgins at business, let's call it just that: Virgin." Since then, Branson has written his own "rules" for success, creating a group of companies with a global presence, but no central headquarters, no management hierarchy, and minimal bureaucracy.

Many of Richard Branson's companies--airlines, retailing, and cola are good examples--were started in the face of entrenched competition. The experts said, "Don't do it." But Branson found golden opportunities in markets in which customers have been ripped off or underserved, where confusion reigns, and the competition is complacent.
And in this stressed-out, overworked age, Richard Branson gives us a new model: a dynamic, hardworking, successful entrepreneur who lives life to the fullest. Family, friends, fun, and adventure are equally important as business in Branson's life. Losing My Virginity is a portrait of a productive, sane, balanced life, filled with rich and colorful stories:

Crash-landing his hot-air balloon in the Algerian desert, yet remaining determined to have another go at being the first to circle the globe

Signing the Sex Pistols, Janet Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Boy George, and Phil Collins

Fighting back when British Airways took on Virgin Atlantic and successfully suing this pillar of the British business establishment

Swimming two miles to safety during a violent storm off the coast of Mexico

Selling Virgin Records to save Virgin Atlantic

Staging a rescue flight into Baghdad before the start of the Gulf War . . .

And much more. Losing My Virginity is the ultimate tale of personal and business survival from a man who combines the business prowess of Bill Gates and the promotional instincts of P. T. Barnum.

Also available in the UK from Virgin Publishing, and in Canada from General Publishing,


From the Hardcover edition..
Price: $8.80 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Twenty-five years ago, Herb Kelleher reinvented air travel when he founded Southwest Airlines, where the planes are painted like killer whales, a typical company maxim is "Hire people with a sense of humor," and in-flight meals are never served--just sixty million bags of peanuts a year. By sidestepping "reengineering," "total quality management," and other management philosophies and employing its own brand of business success, Kelleher's airline has turned a profit for twenty-four consecutive years and seen its stock soar 300 percent since 1990.

Today, Southwest is the safest airline in the world and ranks number one in the industry for service, on-time performance, and lowest employee turnover rate; and Fortune magazine has twice ranked Southwest one of the ten best companies to work for in America. How do they do it?

With unlimited access to the people and inside documents of Southwest Airlines, authors Kevin and Jackie Freiberg share the secrets behind the greatest success story in commercial aviation. Read it and discover how to transfer the Southwest inspiration to your own business and personal life..
Price: $7.32 [Notify me when price goes down.]

On the azure blue morning of 9/11 the skies were pronounced "severe clear," in the parlance of airline pilots; a gorgeous day for flying. Nearly 5,000 flights were cruising the skies over America when FAA Operations Manager Ben Sliney arrived at the Command Center for his first day on that job. He could never have anticipated the historic drama that was about to unfold as Americans who found themselves on the front lines of a totally unprecedented attack on our homeland sprang into action to defend our country and save lives.

In this gripping moment-to-moment narrative, based on groundbreaking reporting, Lynn Spencer brings the inspiring true drama of their unflinching and heroic response vividly to life for the first time, taking us right inside the airliner cockpits and control towers, the fighter jets and the military battle cabs. She makes vital corrections to the findings of the 9/11 Commission Report, and reveals many startling, utterly unknown elements of the story.

As a commercial pilot herself, for whom the attacks hit terribly close to home, she knew that the true scope and nature of the response so brilliantly improvised that morning by those in the thick of the action -- with so little guidance from those at the highest levels -- had not at all been captured by the news coverage or the 9/11 Commission. To get to the truth, she went on a three-year quest, interviewing hundreds of key players, listening to untold hours of tapes and pouring through voluminous transcripts to re-create each heart-stopping moment as it happened through their eyes and in their words as the drama unfolded.

From the shocking moment at 7:59 a.m. that American 11 fails to respond to a controller's call, until the last commercial flight has safely landed and military jets rule the skies, all Americans will find themselves deeply moved and amazed by the grace and fierce determination of these steely men and women as they draw on all of their exquisite training to grasp, through the fog of war, what is happening, put their lives on the line, and mount an astonishing response.

This beautifully crafted and deeply affecting account of the full story of their courageous actions is a vital addition to the country's understanding of a day that has forever changed our nation..
Price: $14.81 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Small Cities 'to be Hurt Tremendously' by Airline Cuts" "Airline Subsidy Cuts Leave Three Towns Flightless" "No Convenient Route to Buffalo" -actual newspaper headlines, 2007-08 It wasn't always like this. At least, not during the era of the Local Service Airlines. From the 1950s through the mid-1980s, these feisty, colorful startups provided a level of service unheard of today, reaching small communities across America. They had to. Encouraged and supported by the Civil Aeronautics Board, these privately-owned companies were mandated to bring reliable scheduled airline transportation-plus airmail and small package service-to the citizens of places like Enid, Oklahoma; or Walla Walla, Washington; or Kokomo, Indiana-and other places ignored by the bigger and older airlines. The "locals" may have begun with second-hand propeller-driven equipment, like the legendary DC-3, but by the mid-60s they were operating turboprops and jets-just like the bigger airlines. And some of these Locals, especially Frontier and Ozark and Piedmont, eventually gave the big boys a run for their money. One Local, Allegheny, became today's US Airways. These truly were Airlines For the Rest of Us, and this is the story of how they began, how they grew, and why they disappeared..
Price: $11.26 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"If you look at Southwest Airlines, and I admire what they do, they've been the most successful airline in the industry "

--Gerard Arpey, CEO, American Airlines

"Through extensive research Jody Hoffer Gittell gets to the bottom of what has sustained Southwest Airlines' positive employee relations and high performance through good and bad times."

--Thomas A. Kochan, professor, MIT Sloan School of Management, MIT Global Airline Industry Program

In an industry with losses in the billions, Southwest Airlines has an unbroken string of 31 consecutive years of profitability. The Southwest Airlines Way examines how the company uses high-performance relationships to create enormous competitive advantage in motivation, teamwork, and coordination among employees. It then goes further to show how any company can foster these powerful cooperative relationships and explains how to:

• Lead with credibility and caring
• Invest in frontline leaders
• Hire and train for relational competence
• Use conflicts to build relationships
• Make unions its partners, not its adversaries
• Build relationships with its suppliers

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Price: $8.35 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In this updated paperback edition of a "rich, readable, and authoritative" Fortune) book, Wall Street Journal reporter Petzinger tells the dramatic story of how a dozen men, including Robert Crandall of American Airlines, Frank Borman of Eastern, and Richard Ferris of United, battled for control of the world's airlines Radio drive-time pubilcity..
Price: $10.92 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This unique resource covers aircraft maintenance program development and operations from a managerial as well as technical perspective. Readers will learn how to save money by minimizing aircraft downtime and slashing maintenance and repair costs.

* Plan and control maintenance
* Coordinate activities of the various work centers
* Establish an initial maintenance program
* Develop a systems concept of maintenance
* Identify and monitor maintenance problems and trends.
Price: $38.16 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Renowned travel authority and NBC Today show travel editor Peter Greenberg shares his insider secrets.

Americans now travel more than ever before. Yet as our traveling has increased, the service we receive from airlines, hotels, and other agencies has deteriorated dramatically. Industry surveys reveal what you already feel: growing dissatisfaction among travelers of every age, income, and education level. We've been abused by the travel experience. Peter Greenberg is here to help. The Travel Detective tells you the things most travel agents can't — or sometimes just won't — tell you. In his characteristic friendly and conversational tone, Greenberg tells how to find the secret walk-up fares that can save air travelers hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on last minutes flights; which coach seats on which planes are better than first class; the secret rule to know to avoid being bumped from a flight, which cruise ship brochures lie; which credit card companies are fastest — and slowest — to come to your aid in a foreign land, or worse, in the U.S.,; which hotels have the best — and the worst — fire and crime safety records, and how you can protect yourself; how to negotiate the best hotel room deal; which hotels have the worst water pressure in their showers (and better yet, how you can get great water pressure, even at those hotels); and much, much more. Accessible and entertaining, The Travel Detective gives you the information and tools you need to make every trip an affordable pleasure..
Price: $7.48 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A new edition of the bestselling introduction to tourism textbook

From the local to the global level, the forces that shape today's economic and social conditions also affect the tourism industry. Anyone involved in the work or study of today's tourism industry must consider all these factors together and their effect on it.

This updated and revised Eleventh Edition of Tourism presents a comprehensive introduction to travel and tourism, while continuing the tested approach of successful previous editions. New and revised coverage, integrating the latest developments in the tourism industry, includes:

• Profiles of such industry leaders as J. W. Marriott, Jr, of Marriott International, Inc., James Rasulo of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Francesco Frangialli, Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization
• Lively and fun "Global Insights" look at emerging areas of importance in tourism
• Demographic trends, such as how the many new travelers from BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) recreate and seek culture
• New information on transportation options, including high-speed rail and river cruises
• New consideration of the use of the Internet, particularly Web 2.0 (podcasting, social networks, and blogs), in tourism research, marketing, and promotion
• Updates on passport, visa, and governmental policies
• Expanded treatment of crisis management

Moving easily between theory and practice, Tourism, Eleventh Edition offers an unparalleled discussion of recreational travel today, and is suitable both as a lively learning tool for students and a reliable go-to reference for tourism professionals..
Price: $60.61 [Notify me when price goes down.]