Flying for Peanuts: Tough Deals, Steep Bargains, and Revolution in the Skies

by Frank Lorenzo

Lessons in business and life from the executive who helped shape the modern airline industry
 
Frank Lorenzo is the epitome of the American dream. A first-generation American and entrepreneur, Lorenzo started an airline advisory business in his mid-twenties based on little more than bravado and ultimately rose to control the largest fleet of airplanes in the free world. Flying for Peanuts recounts how Lorenzo grew his empire from nothing and helped shape the airline industry as we know it.

Flying for Peanuts explains how the son of Spanish immigrants put himself through Columbia College by driving a Coca-Cola truck and then grew the fledgling advisory into ownership of Texas International Airlines. At TIA, he fought through the industry’s transformation, in part by introducing the new, low-cost model for fares that are a major part of the industry today. From there, through a series of shrewd moves and a hostile takeover, Lorenzo became CEO of Continental Airlines, a large loss-making west coast airline at the time.

This airline business memoir gives a play-by-play of the high-stakes negotiations that got Lorenzo there, including faceoffs with Carl Icahn and a chapter devoted to selling the Eastern Airlines Shuttle to Donald Trump, soon to become the doomed Trump Shuttle. It details Lorenzo’s competition with upstarts like Southwest Airlines and the clashes with unions that led Fortune’s to name him one of “America’s toughest bosses,” along with accolades from his employees. Along the way, Lorenzo highlights the strategies and tactics that propelled his growth.

Flying for Peanuts is a compelling read for anyone interested in the American airline industry and anyone wanting to apply a trailblazing executive’s lessons for their own career success.
 

Genres: Business, Aviation

384 pages, Hardcover

Published September 10, 2024

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flying for Peanuts is Frank Lorenzo’s contribution to his reputation redemption tour. A bit late for someone who left the airline industry nearly 35 years ago.

This is his view of his story and he is not particularly forthcoming. Although, to be fair, he does acknowledge a few of his missteps but boy does he gloss over the impact of his business decisions. He all but ignores just how ugly it was.

There are some interesting insights into how some deals came together or didn’t. But overall a less than fulfilling read.

[Rob Moritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a retired Naval Aviator and ex-corporate banker, I have a very strong interest in the airline industry, the competitive strategies of the airlines combined with their financial condition and performance. Reading about Frank Lorenzo's life's journey from Harvard Business School to the ultimate owner of Continental Airlines was, for me, a fascinating read. I could not put the book down. I wish it were another 100,000 pages long as I found it so very fascinating.

[Brock Sawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read on the struggles of an airline entrepreneur and someone who battled the unions during his whole career. Would definitely recommend for any business person who is interested in seeing behind the board room walls into how negotiations with government entities and various businesses are handled. Lorenzo seems like a great mind, unless you're a union boss. Which I thought was great to read.

[Anne Haack · Rating 4 out of 5]

My grandpa worked In leadership with Pan Am and Lockheed; as an HBS alum I heard Frank speak with his son Timon and enjoyed the talk. This book is immensely readable and an excellent lens through which to view a few decades of the airline industry. 4 not 5 stars as the Trump chapter got buried and in a non chronological manner. I loved especially all the photos.

[I R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read, but given how controversial he was, wish author was more introspective/down to earth.

[Ronald J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is capitalism at 35,000 feet—ambitious, cutthroat, occasionally brilliant, occasionally horrifying, and never boring. Lorenzo chronicles the airline deregulation era with the candor of someone who expects you to disagree and doesn’t care. The “Peanuts Fares” story alone is worth the ticket: rejecting the boring “Value Fares,” landing on “Fly for Peanuts,” then watching the results explode—tickets tripled, load factors surged, and competitors scrambled to copy the gimmick.

The business lesson is real: price is a lever, not a label—and demand often isn’t “missing,” it’s being priced out. The marketing lesson is also real: names matter. “Say Nuts to the High Cost of Flying” is corny… and memorable.

So why four stars? Because the book can feel like a courtroom brief disguised as a memoir. You can almost hear the closing argument: “Sure, people hated me, but look at the outcomes.” It’s a fascinating, high-speed case study—but it sometimes underestimates the human wreckage that comes with “winning.”

Still: if you like disruptive strategy told by the disruptor, this is one heck of a flight. And if you are interested in the story of aviation and its deregulation, this is a compelling history from someone who had a front row seat.