Gordon Bethune Quotes

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?

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

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.

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.

Watches are the only jewelry men can wear, unless you're Mr. T.

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.

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

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

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

If you say three things in a row that make sense, people will vote for you.

There are a lot of parallels between what we're doing and an expensive watch. It's very complex, has a lot of parts and it only has value when it's predictable and reliable.

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.

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

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.

It's like telling Mozart that there are too many notes in an opera. Which one do you want us to take out?

We're a stupid industry led by stupid people.

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.

It's not a testosterone-driven industry any longer. Success is making money, not in the size of the airline.

The substitute for knowledge is money.

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

The first step to problem solving is figuring out who's got the problem.

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.

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?

You're only as good as your dumbest competitor.

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.