Page 93 - Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success

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T R UM P: N E V E R G I V E U P

The reason I can wince knowingly about these episodes
with airlines is that I owned one, from 1989 to 1992. It was
known as the Trump Shuttle, and it was originally a part of
Eastern Air Lines. We had flights from LaGuardia Airport in
New York City to Boston and Washington, DC, on an hourly
basis. I got into the business initially because Eastern Airlines
was having trouble in the late 1980s and it began selling its
routes, including its northeastern air shuttle. This route was
heavily traveled and I knew it could be successful. It just needed
to be buffed up a bit, to make the travel time a bit more luxuri-
ous for the passengers.
My previous experience with air travel was that I owned a
helicopter service that provided flights to Atlantic City, La
Guardia, Manhattan, the Hamptons, and Hartford and I also
had a private jet. I knew the conveniences that a traveler
would want to have. I made the new shuttle top of the line
and technologically savvy, with one of the first self-service
check-in kiosks, and it had laptop computers available to rent.
The 727s were completely redecorated with maple wood trim
inside and beautiful fixtures. I was the first to provide real
luxury for shuttle passengers, who had been used to no-frills
transportation.

THE LOW POINT

We hit a perfect storm. I went into this business knowing that
Eastern Airlines was in trouble, and in fact I acquired the shuttle
during a threatened mechanics strike. Let’s just say there were
problems, but I’m used to problems, right? Well, airline prob-
lems are another story entirely. The labor strike happened, and
it went on long enough that we lost a lot of passengers to

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