Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Spirit Airlines CEO's Board Game Recommendations

Do you ever dream of becoming the CEO of an airline that receives more complaints per customer than any other airline? Do you dream of running an airline that runs commercials comparing its low prices with how low it would be if your friend were having an affair with your mom? Do you dream of running an airline that pretty much charges for everything except the air you are breathing while flying?

If you answered any of the above questions, then Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza has a list of board games he believes will help you become an airlines CEO some day. That's right, Mr. Baldanza is a board game geek who believes that the skills he uses every day in running his airline can be honed by playing board games. Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, none of his recommended board games are actual simulations of running an airline. Baldanza's introductory paragraph to this list states, "if you really want to do the job well. No game with an airline theme even comes close...."

The board games he does recommend vary from long standing classics like Go to popular modern Eurogames like Power Grid. Given the depiction of Spirit in the NY Times article, I was surprised that friendship ending games like Diplomacy and Illuminati were nowhere to be found. Given the large volume of board games at Cinerati headquarters, I was surprised that there were so few of these games in the Cinerati library. We have Go and Power Grid, and have been hunting desperately for a good copy of King Oil, but none of the rest have found there way onto our game shelves.

Apparently, the Cinerati headquarters isn't the place to learn the skills to become the CEO of an airline that punishes the price insensitive, but Baldanza's list has ensured that the Cinerati headquarters will soon host a copy of Chinatown.

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