Flight Path: An Airline Novel

A former airline attorney and consultant describes aviation industry struggles in a predictable business-is-hell first novel that never manages to get airborne. Charlie Bell, one of the last of the aviation pioneers, starts a passenger service that grows beyond his abilities to control. Charlie is too much of an idealist and aviator, and not enough of a hardened boardroom warrior, to survive. In contrast, Philip Hartley, Charlie's protege, has the killer instinct of a first-rate businessman. He quickly senses a shift in the financial wind at BellAir and seizes command of the company his mentor built. Blais focuses on the business of flying, competently describing union struggles and the effects of industry deregulation on the unequal battle of small commuter airlines against the titanic majors. His characters are cliches, however; there is even a prostitute with a heart of gold. Ultimately, the reader can't help but feel that the author's sympathy and attention belong to the men in suits, not to the dashing flyers who don't give a hang about the bottom line. (Nov.)