Gordon Bethune
Gordon Bethune
Gordon M. Bethuneis 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...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth29 August 1941
CountryUnited States of America
goes good guy pilots staying
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.
atlantic business change cover cross grounding spending weeks
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.
actual break cockpit interest interested office people personally room thank time whether work
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 manifestation of interest in them. You need to take the time to show the people around you who work for you that you're interested in them.
sit worrying
I just want to be able to get on an airplane and enjoy myself in Disneyland, not sit there worrying about all these assassins.
people
I learned that you can be successful if you get people to help you become successful.
air alliance demand focus global members previous proud shares travelers
Around the world, today's air travelers demand reliability, flexibility and high-quality service. We know from our previous dealings with them that the SkyTeam members are world-beaters by all these measures, and we're proud to be part of a global alliance that shares our focus on the customer.
destroy meat
If you take the meat ax to the problem, you destroy relationships, ... And who loses? The employees. The customers. And the shareholders.
comfort cost fleet latest market next order plan providing reduce technology total
Continental now has a fleet plan that makes us competitive in every market well into the next century. This latest order will reduce our total cost while providing the latest in technology and comfort to our customers.
ability airline approved business compete contend deal dominate fix largest prices schedules
The world's largest airline and Europe's largest carrier contend they can't compete without the ability to fix prices and schedules and dominate the world's largest business market, ... This is a deal that just should not be approved under any circumstances.
change
The nimbler are those that can change. The nimble will do well and the ones that can't change will go by the by.
ibm paid pay people percent rather somewhere
I'd rather have 50 people at 100 percent of their pay than 100 people at 50 percent, ... If you don't pay people what they're worth, they'll go to IBM or somewhere where they are paid what they're worth.
airplane airports
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.
competitors
You're only as good as your dumbest competitor.
sticks shots trenches
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.