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.”

“When you actually take the time to go over to somebody's office and personally thank them - whether their office is in a cockpit of an airplane, or in a break room - that's an actual manifes...”

“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 over...”

“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...”

“You're only as good as your dumbest competitor.”

“It's not about market share. If you have a successful company, you will get your market share. But to get a successful company, what do you have to have? The same metrics of success that you...”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“No one is going to stick their head out of the trenches for someone they don't respect or trust. You can get shot doing that.”

“Most businesses fail because they want the right things but measure the wrong things, and they get the wrong results.”