To my Industry Colleagues:
May we build, the best, most informed, most innovative aviation community in the world.
List of Aviation books
I was taking stock on the weekend. A list resulted in the process which I thought may be useful to you.
A. I have tried to broadly classify the books that I have recommended based on their major contents. Those which don't fit in any category come under General category although that should not take away from their importance.
B. With every book, I have attached an Amazon link, you can easily know what book it is, how much it costs and where to find it. Many of these books are now out of publication (nevertheless important) and can only be purchased second hand from Amazon. Some books also have a description and a 'look Inside' so you can see the table of contents. If you want to read book reviews, some of the books listed have been reviewed by AERLINES magazine (http://www.aerlines.nl/)
C. In general, Aviation focus books are being published by Ashgate (http://www.ashgatepublishing.com). Most material published is academic. However, some is also practical. Naval K. Taneja is an academic from a US university, who regularly writes on Aviation Strategy. Others include: Stephan Holloway, Paul Clark , Rigas Doganis (very likeable, on the board of HYD Airport and more an Aviation Historian than a strategist (in my opinion).
D. This is quite a substantive list but it is obviously still not exhaustive and may be even lopsided by the fact that many of the books that are in the list are the ones that I have read guided my own interests. There may be other areas that are not reflected adequately. Such as space travel and what Virgin is doing in that area. You may notice that I have not included any of Branson's books. I don't like them. Nor do I have any of the RM books. They tend to be very theoretical.
Airline Basics/Airline Economics: Many of these books are used as course material book in universities such as Cranfield in core modules and therefore are great for beginners:
1. Straight and Level
2. Profit Strategies for Airlines
http://www.amazon.com/Profit-Strategies-Transportation-Aviation-Books/dp/0071385053
(the name of this book is misleading, it covers a very wide area in short chapters. Good for beginners to read through)
3. Flying off-course: Airline Economics and Marketing
Airline Strategy:
4. Boeing vs. Airbus
( Absolutely must read)
5. Flight of the Titans: A380 vs. 787 etc. ,
( Must read book)
6. Airbus A380- Superjumbo of the 21st Century
( I wanted to really read this book to enhance my understanding of the aircraft, but couldn't find it, not even at Cranfield)
7. Stormy Skies
(This is a recent book by Paul Clark and I have not yet had an opportunity to lay my hands on a copy. But the book reviews and contents and knowing Paul Clark, this is a must read).
8. Looking Beyond the Runway- Naval K. Taneja
( Again a recent book by Taneja and written in the same style as is other books, this is the first book, that looks at other industries for solutions for Airline industry and Benchmarks the best practises followed in other industries.)
9. The Future of Pricing: How Airline pricing has inspired a revolution
10. Airline Business in 21st Century
11. The Global Airline Industry
( Belobela, Prof. Barnhart and Odoni are the MIT 'gang'. OR Practitioners (except Odoni), they have done a lot to operational problems. Read Chapter 5 and 6 for fleet planning)
Airline company Books
12. Nuts: South West Airlines crazy recipe for business and personal success
( Mr. Damania tried to copy him driving a exotic Bike every morning on his way to work to Sahara's HQ in Lucknow. if only had he stuck to the Poultry business)
13. The Southwest Airlines Way
( I don't really recommend this book, as it is more an academic work, but people in OCC/operations/Ground handling and HR may find it useful. It describes the organizational structures and reporting relationships in Southwest. I gifted it to an HR HEAD and think it may have found its way to the waste bin, because I never saw it back)
14. Lessons in Loyalty: How SouthWest Airline does it
http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Loyalty-Southwest-Airlines-Insiders/dp/0976252856/ref=pd_sim_b_35#_
( haven't read yet, but a good one for HR)
15. Flying High: How Jetblue found and CEO David Neeleman beat the competition
Blue Streak: Inside Jet Blue, the upstart that rocked the industry
( I read both as part of a barter deal. I bought one and a 'lawyer' friend bought the other. The barter deal was his idea, being a lawyer. However, only 'Flying high is recommended'. I have had serious interest in David Neeleman and this book traces his journey from Morris Air to SouthWest to Jetblue to West Jet. Ofcourse, it does include Azul Air as it was before he announced his Brazilian venture. The other thing that this book tells you about is the journey of Navitaire. Many people in India loudly congratulate themselves on Aviation IT. The fact is that we have not yet been able to design a world-class product.
16. Simplifly- A Deccan Odyssey
http://www.flipkart.com/simply-fly-captain-gopinath-book-8172238428
( Some sneer as to why I have this book on the list and some others suggest the book is 'mis-titled'- It should have been 'A Deccan Ordeal', instead of 'A Deccan Odyssey'. I really think it is an important book to read because it is the first person account of setting up an Airline company in India and the problems faced in doing so. A 'critique' that I wrote (perhaps too critical) was met with stony silence. Read it without prejudice and as with other things in life, it will be educational.
17. Moments of Truth
http://www.amazon.com/Moments-Truth-Jan-Carlzon/dp/0060915803/ref=pd_sim_b_33
( Many people think this book is outdated, as it talks about how Jan Carlzon reinvented SAS. I read it while at ITC-Sheraton and I beg to differ. This is a must read for all those who face customers whether internal or external. And still very relevant. Infact, I think it should be made compulsory reading for all beginners. (Dare to Dream by Bachi Karkaria, a book on Rai Bahadur M S Oberoi, was compulsory reading for us).
18. RyanAir: How a small Irish Airline conquered Europe
(Must read)
19. Michael O'leary: A life in full-flight
( I haven't yet read this one, but given his reputation for dirty talking, I would f…ing love to :) )
20. Easy Jet- The story of Britain's biggest Airline
http://www.amazon.com/EasyJet-Britains-Biggest-Low-Cost-Airline/dp/1845132475/ref=pd_sim_b_2
21. Driving Change: The UPS approach to Business
22. The Big Brown: The untold story of UPS
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Driving-Change-Ups-Approach-Business/dp/1401302882/ref=pd_sim_b_1
( I read driving change, although there are 2 books on UPS. It helped me understand that for a Cargo Airline, network planning can be done by operations guys. And why for instance, a Jet Airways flight on BOM-PVG-SFO failed (because the operations guys took over the route planning process without regard to commercial concerns) . It tells you very nicely how the UPS hub in Louisville was developed. Someday I would like to go and see it.)
23. FedEx: Changing how the world does Business
24. FedEx Delivers:
( Again there are 2 books, but I read the first one, that traces FedEx's early history. It is a remarkable history and I was most surprised to read about the Nagpur story in this book)
Airline Finance
25. Foundations of Airline Finance
http://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Airline-Finance-Bijan-Vasigh/dp/0754677702/ref=pd_ys_home_shvl_14
( Bijan Vasingh teaches at Embry Riddle)
26. Airline Finance by Peter Morrell
http://www.amazon.com/Airline-Finance-3rd-Peter-Morrell/dp/0754671348/ref=pd_sim_b_2
( Final word on Airline finance)
27. Handbook of Airline Finance
( These Mc-Graw Hill publications are all out of print, but luckily a friend in US bought them for me just in time)
Airports
28. Airport Systems- Planning, design and management
(Not a more comprehensive resource available. Anybody worth his salt in Airport Management must read in full)
29. Strategic Airport Planning
( Haven't read this, looks like a good book)
30. Naked Airport
(this is just good literature on Airport. Good for people in Branding)
31. A week at the Airport: A Heathrow diary
(Again this is literature on Airport. If someone in advertising or PR were given an Airport account, he/she must read this. Also I found it really funny, because the author is British and his sarcasm is so refined, you can miss it if you are not concentrating).
Route/ Network Planning/Operations/Fleet
32. Buying the big Jets
(this is a classic course book by Paul Clark and many revised and updated versions have been published)
33. Beyond Airline disruptions
( Definitive reading for OCC and disruption budget planning people)
34. Aviation Maintenance Management
( Not started on this one yet, if I was working in an MRO, this would be asset)
35. Airport Slots
( This is a lot of theory and a thick book, I could not get through, but it help explains the legal issues behind slots and important in a merger scenario when slots are being acquired)
36. Handbook of Airline Operations
37. Handbook of Airline Economics
http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Airline-Economics-Darryl-Jenkins/dp/0076070875/ref=pd_sim_b_1
38. Airline Route Planning
( This book is out of print. Luckily, I got a copy from an Airshow. The book is written quite badly. But anyone who can through it, will know about aircraft performance, regulation on various airfields and will be able to thoroughly understand the operational side of route planning, I promise you.
General Books
39. Free Flight- From Airline hell to a new age of travel
(this book made a very big impact on me. I also cursed myself for not reading it sooner, because Cirrus, one of the 2 companies that the Author, James Fallows talks about, ( the other being Eclipse, which collapsed but is being resuscitated by UTC) is based in Duluth, Minnesota, very close to Minneapolis which was the NWA HQ. I could have visited them.
Read it for a good understanding of VLJ's and General Aviation and possibilities.
40. An angel in the cockpit
( Very few people know that Vijaypat ( yes, the other Vijay) Singhania also ran an airline, much before poultry and other farmers got into it. I read it for personal interest. I had climbed into one of his dakota's as a young child growing up at Pantnagar (Near Nainital) Airport just to be able to see how an aircraft is (no ride included). I fully expect him to write another one on his 'other' world record- in the 'hot air balloon' (the literal one).
41. Fly by wire: The geese, the glide, the miracle on the Hudson
( Not read yet, but I would really love to AND I would insist that others do to, to improve upon the pathetic safety culture that we have)
That's it.
