GREAT AVIATION QUOTES
HERB KELLEHER

That place runs on Herb Kelleher’s bullshit.

Robert W. Baker

VP American Airlines, regards Southwest Airlines. Quoted in 1995 book Hard Landing: The Epic Contest for Power and Profits That Plunged the Airlines into Chaos.

See one other Robert W. Baker great aviation quote.

Regulatory non-compliance and being unsafe are two different things.

Herb Kelleher

Executive chairman of Southwest Airlines, immediately before a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on FAA safety enforcement held following that airline’s record $10.2 million dollar fine. The New York Times, 3 April 2008.

I said that we have the most unusual plan in the industry: Doing things. That’s our plan.

Herb Kelleher

CEO Southwest Airlines, when asked in an interview about long-term strategic thinking, “Herb, I understand you don’t have a plan.” Quoted in Herb Kelleher: The Thought Leader Interview, strategy+business, 1 June 2004. Often seen in the compressed format, “We do have a plan. It’s called doing things,” for example in the 1998 book Nuts!: Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success.

If the Wright brothers were alive today Wilbur would have to fire Orville to reduce costs.

Herb Kelleher

Southwest Airlines, USA Today newspaper, 8 June 1994.

Think small and act small, and we’ll get bigger. Think big and act big, and we’ll get smaller.

Herb Kelleher

CEO Southwest Airlines. Quoted in Remembering Southwest’s Herb Kelleher: In His Own Words, Chief Executive magazine, 2019.

The Wright Amendment is a pain in the ass, but not every pain in the ass is a constitutional infringement.

Herb Kelleher

CEO Southwest Airlines. Quoted in Is America’s Best CEO? Behind his clowning is a people-wise manager who wins where others can’t, Fortune magazine, 2 May 1994.

They can buy all the physical things. The things you can’t buy are dedication, devotion, loyalty — the feeling that you are participating in a crusade.

Herb Kelleher

CEO Southwest Airlines. Quoted in Investor’s Business Daily, 15 April 2003.

I’m here to tell you that I am proud of a couple of things. First, I am very good at projectile vomiting. Second, I’ve never had a really serious venereal disease.

Herb Kelleher

In a Wings Club speech in New York. Quoted in Is Herb Kelleher America’s Best CEO? Behind his clowning is a people-wise manager who wins where others can’t, Fortune magazine, 2 May 1994.

If the employees come first, then they are happy. A motivated employee treats the customer well. The customer is happy so they keep coming back, which pleases the shareholders. It's not one of the enduring green mysteries of all time, it is just the way it works.

Herb Kelleher

Southwest Airlines CEO, quoted in A Conversation with , Organizational Dynamics, volume 23, issue 2, Autumn 1994.

It takes nerves of steel to stay neurotic.

Herb Kelleher

CEO Southwest Airlines. Quoted in Our favourite air lines, The Economist magazine, 22 December 2011.