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
people three-things vote
If you say three things in a row that make sense, people will vote for you.
silly sound culture
It all sounds almost silly, but the fact is that the only way to change a corporate culture is to just change it.
men watches jewelry
Watches are the only jewelry men can wear, unless you're Mr. T.
airplane safety risk
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.
adages airline pizza
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.
airplane thinking smoking
I don't think JetBlue has a better chance of being profitable than 100 other predecessors with new airplanes, new employees, low fares, all touchy-feely ... all of them are losers. Most of these guys are smoking ragweed.
sports running team
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.
track challenges records
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.
lying doctors dont-lie
You don't lie to your own doctor. You don't lie to your own attorney, and you don't lie to your employees.
thinking people tree
But I like to think that a lot of managers and executives trying to solve problems miss the forest for the trees by forgetting to look at their people -- not at how much more they can get from their people or how they can more effectively manage their people. I think they need to look a little more closely at what it's like for their people to come to work there every day.
airplane want faster
Do you know how much faster I can fix an airplane when I want to fix it than when I don't want to fix it?
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.
destroy meat
If you take the meat ax to the problem, you destroy relationships, ... And who loses? The employees. The customers. And the shareholders.
ceo fun paid talk
The fun part is, the same talk I would give gratis as CEO of Continental, I get paid handsomely for now.