Quotes by Gordon Bethune

About Gordon Bethune:

Gordon M. Bethune is a retired US airline executive. He was the CEO of Continental Airlines from 1994 until his retirement at the end of 2004. He currently serves on the boards of Honeywell, Sprint, Prudential Financial.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Every pilot thinks they're the best pilot in the world. I think I'm the best pilot.

Gordon Bethune

Whether I'm at the hangar or at the airport or on an airplane, I get respect. And that's the best part of my day.

Gordon Bethune

Grounding airplanes to cover your butt would never have let Orville or Wilbur change the world. We would still be spending weeks to cross the Atlantic to do business in London.

Gordon Bethune

The airline business is the biggest team sport in the world. When you're all consumed with fighting among yourselves, your opponents can run over you every day.

Gordon Bethune

It all sounds almost silly, but the fact is that the only way to change a corporate culture is to just change it.

Gordon Bethune

Somebody who knows what they're doing, who has a good track record, they come across as very articulate, bright and looking for a challenge - that's absolutely my kind of hire.

Gordon Bethune

You're only as good as your dumbest competitor.

Gordon Bethune

The guy in the airplane goes with you. So he has self-interest to do the good things, too, and I don't know of any pilots that don't have a self-interest in staying alive.

Gordon Bethune

The substitute for knowledge is money.

Gordon Bethune

I've spent my life as an airplane mechanic, pilot, aircraft manufacturer and airline CEO who never lost a life or an airplane. I am considerate of the risk we take every time we fly. I also know we need to fly and always to improve safety.

Gordon Bethune

I was a mechanic in the Navy. And mechanics in the Navy are like mechanics in airlines. You may have more stripes than I do, but you don't know how to fix the airplane.

Gordon Bethune

You don't lie to your own doctor. You don't lie to your own attorney, and you don't lie to your employees.

Gordon Bethune

It's the old adage: You can make a pizza so cheap, nobody will eat it. You can make an airline so cheap, nobody will fly it.

Gordon Bethune

We tax air passengers like cigarettes and alcohol - we impose sin taxes on travellers.

Gordon Bethune

I just want to be able to get on an airplane and enjoy myself in Disneyland, not sit there worrying about all these assassins.

Gordon Bethune

There is no economy without airlines. Airfreight runs the world. There is no Honolulu without an airplane. This is a very complex system. If you take it down, you can't build it back up overnight.

Gordon Bethune

I learned that you can be successful if you get people to help you become successful.

Gordon Bethune

A bankruptcy judge can fix your balance sheet, but he cannot fix your company.

Gordon Bethune

It's difficult to have everybody like everything you do. I don't know anybody that's perfect and doesn't have a zit somewhere.

Gordon Bethune

What you measure and reward is what you're going to get.

Gordon Bethune

Author Bio

  • NameGordon Bethune
  • DescriptionAmerican businessman
  • BornAugust 29, 1941
  • CountryUnited States Of America