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Robert Lloyd "Bob" Crandall (born December 6, 1935, in Westerly, Rhode Island) is an American businessman who is the former president and chairman of American Airlines. Called an industry legend by Airline observers, Crandall has been the subject of several books and is a member of the Hall of Honor of the Conrad Hilton college.
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. That same year, Crandall became American's president. In 1985, Crandall succeeded Albert Casey as American's chairman and CEO.
During the latter period of Crandall's tenure as CEO, investor concern over airline bankruptcies and falling stock prices caused Crandall to remind his employees about the dangers of investing in airline stocks. Known for his candor, Crandall later told an interviewer, "I've never invested in any airline. I'm an airline manager. I don't invest in airlines. And I always said to the employees of American, 'This is not an appropriate investment. It's a great place to work and it's a great company that does important work. But airlines are not an investment.'" Crandall noted that since the airline deregulation of the 1970s, some 150 airlines had gone out of business. "A lot of people came into the airline business. Most of them promptly exited, minus their money," he said.Greenberg, Peter, Inside American Airlines: A Week in the Life, CNBC Documentary Feature, October 18, 2006Roeder, David, Stock Seer Sees No Reason Dow Won't Continue Steady Growth, sub. Fear of Flying, Chicago Sun-Times, October 22, 2006
Crandall is credited with creating the first major mileage-reward frequent flyer program in the airline industry, the AAdvantage program, as well as pioneering modern reservations systems through the creation of Sabre. He is also credited with pioneering yield management. Crandall also serves as a senior adviser and sits on the board of AirCell, an in-flight telephony company which won the larger of two licenses for air-ground data service that provide in-flight broadband service.
In 1998, he retired from American and he went on to work as director of many other companies, including Celestica, Haliburton, and Anixter.
In 2018, he stated:
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