Risky Business

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The airline's crews, who can be on the road for weeks at a time, are given significant responsibilities. "This is the only airline in the world where the company essentially hands you a $100 million airplane, a full load [and] a credit card for emergencies and sends you to a bizarre or dangerous place and tells you to get it done," says Captain Harry Constantine, a former Eastern Airlines pilot who has been at World for nearly a decade. "Compared to World, flying for a major passenger airline in the U.S. is as dull as driving a bus." These days it's also a lot less profitable.