Gordon M Bethune was born on August 29,1941 and is a retired US airline executive.
21 Facts About Gordon Bethune
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Gordon Bethune was the CEO of Continental Airlines from 1994 until his retirement at the end of 2004.
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Gordon Bethune formerly served on the boards of Honeywell and Prudential Financial.
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Gordon Bethune was born in San Antonio, Texas to Pearl Elley and Jack Gordon Bethune, who was serving in the US Army at that time.
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Gordon Bethune grew up in Austin, Texas and spent summers with his father, who owned an aerial crop dusting company in Hernando, Mississippi.
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Gordon Bethune joined the US Navy in 1958 at age 17, becoming an aviation electronics technician.
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Gordon Bethune rose to the rank of chief petty officer, chief warrant officer, and over time received his commission as a lieutenant.
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Gordon Bethune holds a commercial pilot certificate with type ratings in the Douglas DC-3, Boeing 757, and Boeing 767.
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In 1978, a Navy friend asked whether Gordon Bethune would consider joining Braniff International Airways as a maintenance manager.
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Gordon Bethune agreed and later became the vice president of maintenance.
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Gordon Bethune later served as vice president of engineering and maintenance for Western Airlines.
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Gordon Bethune spent thirteen months with Western before leaving to become senior vice president of operations at Piedmont Airlines.
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Gordon Bethune served as vice president and general manager of The Boeing Company's Customer Services Division and later the Renton Division where he was responsible for the production of the B737 and B757 airplanes.
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Gordon Bethune earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Abilene Christian University in 1984.
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Gordon Bethune was hired as COO and president of Continental Airlines in 1994 after the airline had twice faced bankruptcy.
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Gordon Bethune later becomes the airline's CEO in November 1994 and was elected chairman of the board of directors in 1996.
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Gordon Bethune released his book, From Worst to First: Behind the Scenes of Continental's Remarkable Comeback, in 1999 detailing his time at that carrier.
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Gordon Bethune served on the board of directors of Prudential Financial, Honeywell, Sprint Corp, and Park Hotels and Resorts.
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Gordon Bethune served as a contributor to CNBC following his retirement.
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In 1999, Gordon Bethune was the National Honorary Initiate of Delta Sigma Pi at the Grand Chapter Congress in Houston.
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Gordon Bethune has spent a lifetime relentlessly searching for ways to make things work better.