Grounded: Frank Lorenzo And The Destruction Of Eastern Airlines

A breathtaking chronicle of the depressurizing and crash of Eastern Airlines.

Reviews:

This is a study in an ego taken over. I view is that the games he played could almost be criminal. I would have liked more information for the company as the author does seem to set out to make Frank be the bad guy. I would also have liked more details on the business end of the airline industry. I thought the writing was above average, he moved the story along through some topics that could be considered dull, union negotiations etc. All and all not a bad book and if you find the airline industry interesting then you should read this book.

Excellent book, well researched and very well written. Accurately portrays the events that lead to Eastern's demise. I am no fan of unions. But, Lorenzo displayed a blatant calloused disregard for Eastern, it's people, and everything connected with it.

One of the most unfair treatments of the demise of Eastern Airlines ever written and the second worst book on the subject. Biased towards labor from the beginning, Bernstein paints Goya-like pictures of an evil Frank Lorenzo and his henchmen cackling over a cauldron late at night, thinking up ways to lie, cheat and steal Eastern away from the hearths of America. At the same time, Charlie Bryan is portrayed as some mythic hero who ". . .read Ghandi and Kahlil Gibran and even Sun-tzu. . .". Right. Bias shows in the fact that no Texas Air management are quoted; no personal attributes are ever given, making Lorenzo, Bakes et all appear as soulless corporate thugs, while the stalwart union defenders with defiant chins thrust forth, are given warm wonderful hearts and the purest of intentions. I'm surprised Bernstein didn't have pictures of Bryan petting a puppy and holding a baby. Of slight redeming value is the fact that the book does tell an accurate story. Eastern didn't have to die and maybe Lorenzo didn't have to kill it, but the interpretation and presentation are designed only to support an intransigent group of labor leaders in their refusal to see the reality of the world. This book is only marginally better than the worst book written about Eastern, "Freefall".

Overall this book gives an sufficent explantian on the events that led up to Eastern's Shutdown. However, it is bias toward the unions without exposing there arrogance. If you ignore this fact and simply rely on the facts given this is a fairly good book. And also, it ends before the shutdown of the company in January 1991. It does not show the final stage of the Eastern Airlines saga between where Frank Lorenzo loses power and the company shutsdown. 3 stars.

I read the original publication in the early 90's. This book reads well and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The story is bewildering and illustrates a classic "old world" perspective of labor/management relations clashing with the modern realities of a deregulated airline market that would no longer tolerate labor friction.

This is a short book but a good telling of the tale of the downfall of Eastern Airlines under the managment of Frank Lorenzo. It is also a story that relates a great deal about the corporate attitudes of the late 1980s and the potential consequences of that attitude. The only shortcoming of the book is that the story line leaves off with the ejecetion of Frank Lorenzo as the debor in possession of the bankrupt airline and the appointment of a bankrupcy trustee in April of 1990. The airline did continue operation until sometime later in 1990 when the company was finally liquidated. The story stopped too soon.

Good account of the battle over Eastern Airlines. Labor vs. management at its worst. How personalities killed a once great airline