Beginnings -- The industrial revolution -- The railroads -- The industrial age and the rise of unionism -- The beginnings of flight -- Prelude to powered flight -- The Wright brothers -- Glenn Curtiss -- World War I, NACA, and the end of the Wright patent litigation -- Airmail story -- Horsepower -- the privatization of airmail -- The founding of the airlines -- New deal-the Roosevelt administration -- State of the airlines before the civil aeronautics act -- The civil aeronautics act of 1938 (McCarran-Lea act) -- World War II -- A new beginning -- On the way to the jet age -- The federal aviation act -- The next jets -- The department of transportation -- Airports -- Prelude to deregulation -- The airline deregulation act of 1978 -- The age of Lorenzo -- Carl Icahn and TWA -- Pan American and deregulation -- Airline labor relations -- The progression of deregulation -- Deregulation and the significance of competition -- Antitrust enforcement after deregulation -- Airports and deregulation -- Airports and the environment -- Airlines in the 21st century -- Something new under the sun : next generation air transportation system (Next Gen), the national airspace system, and unmanned air vehicles -- Treaties and international civil aviation organizations -- Europe after World War II-the rise of the European economic community -- American deregulation and the European union -- Global deregulation takes off -- Beyond Earth.