The Flying Circus: Why We Love To Hate Our Airlines And Airports

Providing a whimsical but informed view on air travel by a leading management guru, this book supplies a much-needed outlet for the frustrations of the troubled traveler. Flying is an experience the author defines as akin to cattle-car herding, which begins at depressingly generic and chaotic airports and continues through agonizing hours in cramped, sardine-class seats, where the passengers are served skimpy and unidentifiable meals and bombarded with "customer service" that amounts to constant interruptions while trying to sleep or read. Containing hilarious anecdotes about fellow passengers and stories of suffering, this witty rant is the author's revenge on the airlines and the culture of commercialism that has reduced a once-enjoyable adventure to a loathsome farce.

Henry Mintzberg was named distinguished scholar for the year 2000 by the Academy of Management, and won its George R. Terry Award for best book of 1995 for The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning. Two of his articles in the Harvard Business Review have won McKinsey prizes. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.