Robert Crandall
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Robert Crandall (born December 6, 1935), also known as Bob Crandall, is the former president and chairman of American Airlines. Named a legend by some airline industry critics, Crandall has been the subject of several books and is a member of the Hall of Honor of the Conrad Hilton college, from which he graduated. He also graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. Robert Crandall was raised in Rhode Island.
In 1966, he joined TWA, where he worked for six years. In 1972, he left to become a senior financial officer at Bloomingdale's Department Stores, but he returned to the airline industry in 1973, as senior financial vice president of American.
Before the passing of the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act, Crandall was one of the act's loudest opponents. In 1982, he had a famous conversation with Braniff CEO Howard D. Putnam, in which he told Putnam that if Braniff raised their prices, American would too. Crandall has publicly expressed embarrassment over that conversation. 1982 was also the year that Crandall became American's president. In 1985, Crandall succeeded Albert Casey as American's chairman.
In 1997, he received the Horatio Alger award for disadvantaged people who have reached important status in their fields. In 1998, Crandall retired from American and he went on to work as director of many other companies, including American Express.
Crandall is credited with creating one of the first frequent flyer programs in the airline industry, the AAdvantage.