What Happened to People Express? Why People Express Disappeared

Why did People Express, the Newark airline that sold a seat to Buffalo for $23, end up folded into Continental in 1987? Growing too fast was only part of the answer. The airline first flew from Newark's old North Terminal on April 30, 1981. It charged $3 to check a bag and 50 cents for coffee, collected fares in the aisle, and sold every seat on a flight at the same price. In January 1985, American Airlines answered with Ultimate Super Saver fares, matching People's prices only on the seats its Sabre computer expected to fly empty. People's planes grew emptier, and in the first quarter of 1986 the airline lost $58 million. What this video covers: • 1981: $23 fares, tickets sold on board, and the no-frills model • 1983: used Braniff 727s and $149 flights to London • 1985: American's fare fences and the Frontier purchase • 1986: Frontier's shutdown and the sale to Texas Air • 1987: the last People Express flights out of Newark People Express had the lowest costs of any major airline. American had the better computer. If you ever paid your People Express fare in the aisle, tell us where you were flying and what it cost. Subscribe for more careful histories of the airlines that carried us. Sources: American Air to Offer Deeper Fare Discounts - The New York Times, 1985: https://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/18/busines... People Express: A Case Study; Can Don Burr Go Back to the Future? - The New York Times, 1986: https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/06/busines... Yield Management at American Airlines - Barry C. Smith, John F. Leimkuhler and Ross M. Darrow, Interfaces, 1992: https://classes.engineering.wustl.edu/2010... The people at People Express say 'bye to a dream - The Christian Science Monitor, 1987: https://www.csmonitor.com/1987/0126/fpeep-... #PeopleExpress #PeopleExpressAirlines #DonBurr #NewarkAirport #NoFrillsAirline #UltimateSuperSaver #AirlineDeregulation #FrontierAirlines #DefunctAirlines #AirlineHistory Disclaimer: The voiceover used in this video was generated using AI.