Travel: Donald Trumps the Shuttle

The billionaire developer tucks an airline up his sleeve

For 27 years the Eastern Airlines shuttle has ferried the high and mighty up and down the BosNyWash corridor with the comfort of a cattle car but the cachet of a stretch limousine. Every hour on the hour, Senators squeezed three abreast with generals, moguls, salesmen, anchormen, accountants and academics enduring the ultimate power trip. There were no reserved seats, no in-flight entertainment, no hot towels and, until recently, no coffee or tea. But the shuttle has never been about comfort. It is about urgency and influence, the mustn't-keep-the-Joint-Chiefs-waiting mentality, the snap of starched shirts, the rustle of the financial pages,...

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