Things in the Sky

I love taking the bus to my summer job. It saves on both time and stress, but it also gives me plenty of time to read. So, I’m hoping to read a few things over the summer and post some reviews here.

If I asked you to name some of the people influential in the founding of Southwest Airlines, some names that would probably pop up are Rolling King, Herb Kelleher, and Colleen Barrett. And all of those answers are correct. King got the idea of the carrier started, Kelleher won some very important legal battles for the airline and became one of the best leaders in the industry (in my opinion), and Barrett, I think, deserves much of the credit for developing Southwest’s culture.

One name that is consistently left out of Southwest lore, it seems, is the late Lamar Muse. Yes, he is mentioned in the company’s official timeline on its webpage, but, it seems that unlike other Southwest leaders, there is not a 737 bearing his name. A few years ago, he published a book entitled Southwest Passage: The Inside Story of Southwest Airlines’ Formative Years, which is now out of print. Fortunately, curbcrusher from FlyerTalk lent me a copy.

Muse makes it clear in the book that he thinks his story is what people should be paying attention to. In fact, he even criticizes other books on the company:

And rest assured, any similarity between this real story and and the convoluted tales told in Hard Landing: the Epic Contest for Power and Profits That Plunged the Airlines Into Chaos(1995) by Thomas Petzinger Jr. and Nuts! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success (1996) by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg is purely coincidental. (Page 91)

The first nine chapters, which take up less than 70 pages, can be skipped. I’m not saying they’re not worth reading, but they focus on Muse’s childhood and early airline career. I enjoyed these chapters since I did learn a lot of airline history, but a reader wishing to rush could skip them to get to the stories about Southwest.

In 1971, Muse was hired by then Air Southwest as CEO and president, and he quickly made some big changes:

The first thing I did after taking over the chair  was to suggest a name change for our new airline. Since Air Southwest sounded to me like some Mickey Mouse, third-level carrier, I convinced the board to change the name to “Southwest Airlines Co.” (Page 68)

Muse also tells the story about how the 737 was chosen and how he helped the airline get a good deal on its first aircraft (at first, it does seem that he is beating his own drum a bit much). He also goes into great detail when explaining the efforts made to receive initial financing, and since he is an accountant by training, Muse goes into great financial detail in other parts of the book as well. This might be a turn off to some readers.

But, Muse’s recollections of the early days are very well-done, and he describes important events, like the decision to use the 10-minute turn, and what new markets the carrier would serve, very well. Memos sent to the board of directors are constantly quoted, and are quite helpful. Muse’s descriptions really do make the reader feel like he or she is right there calling the shots with him.

The book did reveal some nuggets of Southwest history I didn’t know. I had no idea that the company was in the process of setting up a subsidiary company to operate flights out of Midway back in the late ’70s. (Ironically, one of the routes being considered was MDW-MSP!)

Over time, tension started to build between Rollin King and Muse, and it’s clear that Muse has an ax to grind, as he makes numerous jabs at King. Some examples:

The board members kept asking me the same old question: “What would happen to Southwest if you got run over by a truck?” Well, in the first place, I was not going to get run over by a truck, unless it might be one driven by Rollin King. (Page 166)

…I had the opportunity to…renew my acquaintance with Rollin’s ex-wife, Marsha. At lunch…we all agreed that Marsha and I had something in common. We both had been screwed by Rollin King. (Page 197)

Eventually, Muse left Southwest in 1978 after resigning in a sort of unceremonious fashion. Eventually, his son started another carrier called Muse Air, in which Muse became heavily involved over time. It was eventually sold off to Southwest.

Toward the end of the book, Muse does make some suggestions that, in my opinion, are a bit far-fetched. For example, on pages 213-214 he suggests Southwest get some gates at DFW and use that as a way to eliminate all crew bases other than Dallas. Later, on page 218, he lays out some suggestions to Herb for a post-9/11 environment:

Second, I would install as permanent equipment in the cockpit two .38 revolvers loaded with bullets that would not penetrate the fuselage….I would advertise the hell out of it, and just dare terrorists to try something. I guarantee you, passengers will swarm to your flights.

Muse does have a very bitter tone at times, that I think can be unnecessary and detracts from his main book. For example, he calls Colleen Barrett”s presidency as “an honorary position,” which I think is pretty insulting. (Interestingly, he recommends Gary Kelly to be COO and president, and he is now CEO, president, and chairman.)

But, he does have great advice in other parts, I think:

It is time to get back to basics, get costs under control, be the low-fare carrier in fact rather than fiction, and stay the course. (Page 216)

I also found it interesting that he heavily criticizes yield management at one point, and believes that having many fare classes isn’t the right way to go.

But, despite Muse’s clear bias in some sections, this is a great book, and I think anyone interested in a great airline case study should pick it up. This book is highly informative, and should be read by anyone looking to go into the airline business. Unfortunately, it is now out of print, but I would recommend trying to get it from a library.

And, if there’s one thing I learned, it’s that Lamar Muse deserves a 737 with his name on it, in my very humble opinion.