Carl Icahn told me to stay away from airlines. In good times, the unions take away the profits, and in bad times, the cost of oil kills you.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
A lot of airlines have come and gone.
There is something about the airline industry that really grabbed me.
Airlines are one of the last things to be liberalized.
Americans have an abiding belief in their ability to control reality by purely material means... airline insurance replaces the fear of death with the comforting prospect of cash.
I think airlines have been very much parrots. They'll just follow what everyone else is doing. Why change a model that they're happy in? And it takes someone like myself or Richard Branson who comes from outside the industry to say, 'Hey, let's try something new.'
I had some airline stock, but the airlines tanked. I didn't have a lot of money in them, though.
If anyone wonders why the airlines are not doing well it is because flying has been made such an unpleasant and degrading experience.
When I started working on Southwest Airlines, I kid you not, only people flying on business and very wealthy people ever flew.
First, we have to lower our costs to levels that are more competitive. This will prevent the lower-cost airlines from pushing us out of the markets we want to serve. We've made great progress on this front, but we need to keep pushing.
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.