When KIWIs Flew: The Diary of a Mad Airline Entrepreneur

Aspiring entrepreneurs, aviation buffs, and job-seekers wanting a fresh start must read this personal, gritty tale of creating a complex airline from scratch, and quickly turning it into a $120,000,000 business. Readers are in the pilot's seat for every twist and turn of this breathless, gut wrenching, and inspiring high speed flight. From outrageously edgy capital-sourcing to all-out combat with competitors and the FAA, you will experience what entrepreneurial hardball is really about. It will either scare the business suit off you or convince you that anything is possible. Anyone searching for greater opportunity can learn valuable lessons about determination, personal resourcefulness, ethical limits, and hope from this true story. Fueled by anger and obsessed with justice, I went from an unemployed Eastern Air Lines pilot to founder and CEO of the "Best Airline in America" in two years. Without a penny or a clue, I started KIWI International Air Lines by tapping into the deepest needs of my bruised, battered, and out-of-work Eastern Air Lines colleagues. In March 1989, the Eastern pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants walked out on strike. The company eventually failed, and 27,000 workers lost many of the best jobs in America. Some built new lives, some muddled through, and some never recovered. But several hundred invested their money and talents with me to create an exciting new career opportunity. In 1993, Conde Naste Traveler named KIWI "Best Airline in America." By combining financial, professional, and personal resources we reclaimed our dignity from a collusive triad of industry, government, and union agendas that had done its best to destroy us. Instead of cowering and giving up, we joined forces, believed in each other, and overcame every obstacle in our path. The risky journey began in early 1990 as nothing but a crazy dream, and the first flight took off in September of 1992. When I left in 1995 KIWI was a $120,000,000 airline employing 1,