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Still Flying Under<br />
Wearing a maroon shirt with the sleeves<br />
rolled up two turns, 50s style, khaki<br />
pants and running shoes, Robert Crandall<br />
answered the door of his Turtle Creek<br />
apartment in Dallas, stuck out his hand and<br />
quickly introduced himself. Gesturing<br />
toward the living room, he said to make<br />
myself at home. He was on the telephone.<br />
The apartment is more luxury hotel suite<br />
than "home." The living room is spacious,<br />
bright, with an exterior glass wall. A glassshelved<br />
bookcase on a long interior wall<br />
displays dozens of awards Crandall<br />
received during the 25 years he was<br />
President, then Chairman and CEO of<br />
American Airlines. He retired in 1998, but<br />
for Bob Crandall retirement means<br />
applying himself with the same diligence in<br />
other directions. I could hear his deep,<br />
radio voice echoing from the kitchen,<br />
punctuated once by a startling, signature<br />
cackle he emits when something strikes<br />
his funny bone.<br />
At 67, Bob Crandall is tall, slim, and fit<br />
from a lifetime of running four miles a day<br />
except when hell or high water has<br />
intervened. But this day he is moving with<br />
some care, having had surgery for a<br />
herniated disk just a week before. "I’m<br />
corseted," he said smacking the hard<br />
support device under his shirt with his<br />
hand as he eased himself into a chair. I’d<br />
heard that Crandall walked a mile the third<br />
day after surgery. "Yeah," he said with a<br />
look that asked, doesn’t everybody? "The<br />
sooner you get going the faster you’ll heal<br />
and be back up to speed," he said. Then<br />
he smiled. "But the day after the<br />
operation when they hauled me out of bed<br />
for a walk I have to say it hurt like hell."<br />
For 25 years Bob Crandall applied his<br />
pragmatic, plainspoken approach to<br />
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