Southwest Airlines appoints new directors and enters into agreement with management firm

Months after Southwest Airlines’ board said it had “the right leadership team” to develop its business, the airline has announced it will restructure its board leadership as part of a settlement with investment management firm Elliott.

Now Executive Chairman Gary Kelly and six other Southwest directors will accelerate their planned retirements, which are expected to take effect Nov. 1.

Southwest officials said in a news release that the new board will appoint an independent chairman and be reduced to 13 members starting at the 2025 shareholder meeting.

“I am confident that this Board will continue to hold the leadership team accountable for executing the transformation plan and delivering financial performance,” said Kelly. “It has been the honor of my life to work with our people and serve our customers to make Southwest the leader it is today. I believe Southwest’s best days lie ahead under the vision and leadership of Bob Jordan and the stewardship of this reconstituted Board of Directors. ”

The six new board members are:

• Pierre Breber: Former Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Chevron
• David Crush: Former CEO of Virgin America
• Sarah Feinberg: Former administrator at the Federal Railroad Administration
• Dave Grissen: former group chairman of Marriott International
• Gregg Saretsky: Former CEO of WestJet
• Patricia Watson: Chief Information and Technology Officer at NCR Atleos

Southwest also announced that it had entered into a partnership agreement in which Elliott – a company designed to help underperforming companies – agreed to standstill, voting, confidentiality and other provisions.

They also entered into an information sharing agreement to allow Southwest to share confidential information about company announcements.

Elliott has a roughly 10% stake in Southwest, which, while not a controlling stake, has prompted the airline to adopt a “poison pill” plan to prevent investors like Elliott from taking control of the company, Dallas reported Morning News earlier.

However, Elliott has said it has no plans to seek control of Southwest.

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