Flying Across America Jan 3 2008

Notas do Editor

1. Written by Daniel L. Rust, assistant director of the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, this book is a case study of the evolving transcontinental US airline passenger experience from the advent of coast-to-coast passenger air service in the late 1920s to the routine hassles of air travel in the early 21st century. Ever since Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the Corps of Discovery to the Pacific Ocean over two hundred years ago, transcontinental travel has held a certain mystique for Americans. Making transcontinental connections became an American obsession. Air travel is merely the latest chapter in this quest. Starting in the 1920s, the air travel experience evolved from a thrilling adventure into a routine part of everyday American life. The most valuable aspect of this work is the way it looks at airline travel through the eyes of contemporary passengers. Fully illustrated and rooted in first-hand accounts, this book examines how transcontinental airline passengers perceived the experience of commercial flight as it changed due to the interplay between technological advances in aircraft and airway construction, changes in airline operations, and shifts in American society. The accounts chronicle the evolution of the air travel experience during its formative era and illustrate how passengers became increasingly removed, both physically and psychologically, from the raw experience of flight. This book examines the many facets of the airline passenger experience. Some of these include the view from the aircraft window, onboard amenities and diversions, scheduling, safety, perception of motion, insurance, and the air travel experience of women, racial minorities, as well as the physically disabled. This volume provides a fascinating glimpse into an aspect of modern life most people take for granted. Today, large numbers of people board airliners without seriously pondering the amazing transformation of the airline travel experience in the span of half a century. Philbert Suresh undertook a summer felllowship in July 2007 for three weeks to study and analysie the model of CTS and its suitability for the new program on Logistics Management under GUST Logistics Forum (www.gust.edu.kw/glf) .