Air Pocket in the Revolution

The instigator of fare wars becomes a victim of the competition

For more than a year, the wings of high-flying People Express had been drooping under the heat of intense competition. In the first six months of 1986, the revolutionary discount airline lost an estimated $103 million, an alarming deterioration compared with a $5.7 million deficit for the same period last year. Finally, said Donald Burr, 45, People's founder and visionary chairman, "we had to do something." Last week Burr did. In a tersely worded statement he announced the possible upcoming sale of part, "or under certain circumstances even all," of the country's fifth-largest airline, which had 1985 revenues of nearly $1...

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