Quote

When I get on a plane these days, I go first class.

I don't throw money away. First class tickets are very expensive. Why should I fly first class if I can fly business, which is the same thing? I would only fly first class if the ticket included access to some sort of special compartment that could save me if there was any crash.

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 never took classic business classes in college, so I don't have the background that any of the people running large companies have.

At American Airlines, we have built a business around the love of travel that has lasted three quarters of a century. And I'm pretty sure we're just getting started.

I never went to business school. I was just bumbling through a lot of my life. I was like the guy behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz.

Ever since I bought and started flying an airplane, it's been almost exclusively for business. I love to fly. It's a great joy to me. But rarely do I use it for any kind of pleasure, other than it is a pleasure to fly.

I have so many miles and I've been flying for so long that every time I fly, it's first class. It's one of those things that, if I needed to jump on a plane, and fly to Spain tomorrow, I know I could get it done. Just like that.

What I learned at Oxford has been used to great advantage throughout my business career.