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
hear loaded proposed security tax taxes top turkeys tv
To hear all these congressmen harrumphing on TV that this is horrible. Why, these are the same turkeys who just proposed a new security tax on top of all the other taxes they've loaded on the airlines.
buying closer dominant west zero
The probabilities (of) United, the dominant carrier in the West, buying and merging with the third-biggest carrier in the West (America West) are closer to zero than they are to any other number,
customers percent
Bookings are OK, but sometimes as many as 30 percent of the customers don't show up,
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.
destroy meat
If you take the meat ax to the problem, you destroy relationships, ... And who loses? The employees. The customers. And the shareholders.
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.
priorities speed infrastructure
You have to begin to put the infrastructure in place to put in high-speed trains...It should be a national priority. If the French can do it, why cant we?
judging balance sheets
A bankruptcy judge can fix your balance sheet, but he cannot fix your company.
substitutes
The substitute for knowledge is money.
airline-business size making-money
It's not a testosterone-driven industry any longer. Success is making money, not in the size of the airline.
airplane years choices
In airplanes you have a choice between chocolate and vanilla. One year could be vanilla or it could be chocolate. I don't attach any relevance to which one.