Gordon Bethune

“It really helps to know what success is before you get there, and if you know, then you can head right for it. For some people, it's the most money. For some, it's the most power. For some, it's the most girlfriends. Everybody's got a measure. For me, I guess it's having the respect and admiration of your peers.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

“I learned that you can be successful if you get people to help you become successful.”

“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.”

“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 overnight.”