Alfred E. Kahn Dies at 93; Prime Mover of Airline Deregulation

[alp227]

Alfred E. Kahn, a Cornell University economist best known as the chief architect and promoter of deregulating the nation’s airlines, despite opposition from industry executives and unions alike, died Monday at his home in Ithaca, N.Y. He was 93.

The cause was cancer, Cornell said in a statement.

Mr. Kahn, a leading regulatory scholar who wielded his influence in both government and academia, helped spur a broad movement beginning in the mid-1970s toward freer markets in rail and automotive transportation, telecommunications, utilities and the securities markets.

Before deregulation, the airlines were tightly controlled by the Civil Aeronautics Board, which approved routes and set fares that guaranteed airlines a 12 percent return on flights that were 55 percent full. The changes Mr. Kahn orchestrated resulted in increased competition, lower fares and the rise of low-cost carriers like JetBlue and Southwest. But they also created severe financial problems for the industry, leading to bankruptcies and mergers.

(snip)

After taking degrees at New York University and a Ph.D. at Yale, Mr. Kahn went to Washington to work briefly as a economist for the Brookings Institution, the Justice Department’s antitrust division and the War Production Board before a 1943 Army stint that ended with a discharge for poor eyesight after basic training.

He joined the Cornell faculty in 1947 after two years at Ripon College in Wisconsin, where he began an extended academic career distinguished by publication of “The Economics of Regulation,” his landmark two-volume treatise, first published in 1970.

At Cornell, he served as dean of the college of arts and sciences and as a member of the board of trustees.

Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/business/29kahn.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

[still_one]

1. It was under Jimmy Carter that it happened, he signed it and appointed Kahn. /nt

[hlthe2b]

2. They should bury him sitting up in a chair...

with two inches of knee room, next to an overweight cadaver taking over the rest of his seat. :evilgrin:

[gratuitous]

6. Wearing an itchy sweater that he doesn't have room to take off

And don't forget a yowling baby who doesn't handle the changes in cabin pressure very well.

[ClassWarrior]

3. Waiting in a sealed aircraft with no a/c, sitting on the tarmac for eleven hours?

One can only hope.

NGU.

[Ken Burch]

4. I wonder if they'll lose his coffin on the flight home...

(or just throw a tiny bag of "snack mix" inside").

[SheilaT]

5. When I worked for the airline

that flew between Ithaca and DC I used to wait on him, back in the day.

He really was a sweet guy. I can tell you that as soon as we airline employees learned of deregulation, we knew exactly what would happen: decreased service, certain cities totally without service, fewer inflight amenities, and a general cattle car kind of operation. I'm glad I got out just as deregulation got underway. It was a difficult job at times back then. Now you couldn't pay me enough to work at the airport.