People Express was born from the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 with the former aviation experience of Donald Burr. They started off in 1981 with just three secondhand 737s flying to vacation destinations from Newark (EWR). Price was the main driving force of the airline's customer base, with the carrier offering extremely cheap tickets compared to other airlines. Their tickets were so cheap, that flying People Express was sometimes cheaper than driving or taking a bus!

Just a few months after it's conception, People Express started expanding rapidly. Their business strategy for growth/profit was simple: keep costs low, keep fares low, and keep expanding rapidly. By 1983, the airline was flying international with 747s to London.

In 1984, the tides began to turn for People Express when they expanded into big cities, which was the larger airlines' territory. Established legacy carriers realized that People Express was a serious threat, and changes needed to be made to their own business models if they were to survive the competition. People Express soon found themselves being pricematched, and decided that they needed to acquire other airlines to expand their influence.

They became the countries 5th largest airline, but through their expansion efforts, they accumulated massive amounts of debt. The airline started losing money quickly, and was bought out by Continental Airlines right before they would've likely declared bankruptcy in 1987.

Some say that PeoplExpress's rapid expansion was an effort by Burr to outdo his former Texas Air colleague Frank Lorenzo. However, the expansion led to PeoplExpress's downfall, and Lorenzo, who owned Continental, would end up devouring Burrs airline in the end.

IATA Code: PE
IACO Code: PEX
Callsign: "People"
Years Active: 1981 1987
Headquarters: Newark, NJ
Primary Hub: Newark (EWR)
Focus Cities/Former Hubs: Denver Stapleton (DEN), Baltimore (BWI)
Fate: Merged into Continental Airlines

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Video Citations:
PeoplExpress Documentary:
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   • 1986 PeoplExpress 747 Commercial  

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