Frank Lorenzo

Tough Deals, Steep Bargains,
and Revolution in the Skies

by Frank Lorenzo


Bold and innovative, former Continental Airlines CEO Frank Lorenzo was an agent of change in the skies during his 25-year career with the airlines.

Read More Buy Now

Testimonials for Flying for Peanuts

Frederick W. Smith, Founder and Executive Chairman, FedEx Corporation

Frank Lorenzo was one of the truly significant airline executives during deregulation of the industry in 1978—a profound event. His many creative innovations and exploits over his career reshaped air travel and reverberate to this day to the benefit of millions around the world dependent on it.

Robert L. Crandall, Former Chairman, President, and CEO of American Airlines

Lorenzo’s interest and participation in the airline industry began years before airline deregulation and this book is the story of his extraordinary entrepreneurialism. Anyone interested in how the industry morphed from regulated to deregulated and how Lorenzo built his reputation will find it instructive and entertaining.

Glenn Hubbard, Professor of Economics and Finance, Columbia University Business School, and former Dean, and Chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers (2001-2003)

Frank Lorenzo’s Flying for Peanuts is a master class on strategy and disruption in a competitive industry. The book is an entertaining take on entrepreneurship, risk taking, and smarts.
Read More Testimonials

Frank Lorenzo

Bold and innovative, former Continental Airlines CEO Frank Lorenzo was an agent of change in the skies during his 25-year career with the airlines.


In his engrossing book, FLYING FOR PEANUTS: Tough Deals, Steep Bargains, and Revolution in the Skies, Frank Lorenzo tells his story—one that reveals how his ability to think big and take the route less traveled radically changed the way we now fly. For instance, while leading Houston-based Texas International in the late 1970s, he and his team embraced an experiment of airline deregulation and became a pioneer of lower fares; they labeled these “Peanut Fares.” These cut-rate prices brought air travel to millions more Americans and quickly became the model for the industry.

Read More