People Express
The rise and fall of a remarkable business phenomenon

In 1981, People Express Airlines was launched and a business legend took off. By 1986 it was the fifth largest airline in the US with a $1 billion annual revenue. Its innovative management style and structure were praised as the wave of the future and companies worldwide rushed to imitate. Yet by 1986 it was nearly bankrupt, at the last minute was acquired by Texas Air.

The People Express Management Flight Simulator gives teams the opportunity to find out what went wrong by 'flying' the company themselves. They will take command of the firm and pilot it from start-up to success - or failure. In each simulated time period they make strategic and operational decisions, and receive feedback from past decisions. Teams decide how fast to grow, how to set prices, how aggressively to advertise. Hiring policies influence morale, productivity and turnover; marketing efforts will shape the growth of demand; but competitors will fight back. The business may go bankrupt or grow to dominate the industry.

This simulator offers insights into the issues raised by the case history of this remarkable business, illustrating the difficulties of coordinating operations and strategy in a growth market and understanding the dynamic interconnections within a firm, its market and its competitors. The flight simulator is a laboratory in which teams can systematically explore the consequences of different strategies without risking the fortunes of the real enterprise.

This business simulation was created by Professor John Sterman at MIT.

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Video: Introduction to the game interface, with audio (4 mins)

People Express + 'Screenshot'

In 1981, People Express Airlines was launched and a business legend took off. By 1986 it had a $1 billion annual revenue. Yet by 1986 it was nearly bankrupt, and at the last minute was acquired by Texas Air.

The People Express Management Flight Simulator gives teams the opportunity to find out what went wrong by 'flying' the company themselves.

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Play demo Create a game as a guest and see the reports etc that are available. Access is limited and games run for a few periods only.

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More resources

How it works - the process of evaluating and setting up an event, illustrative teaching schedules and suggestions for assessing student performance.