Months after the Southwest Airlines board said it had the "right leadership team in place" to evolve 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, expected to go into effect Nov. 1.
Southwest officials said in a news release that the new board will appoint an independent chairman and will be reduced to 13 members as of the 2025 shareholder meeting.
"I am confident this Board will continue to hold the leadership team accountable for executing its transformational plan and delivering financial performance," Kelly said. "It has been the honor of my lifetime to work with our People and serve our Customers in making Southwest the leader it is today. I believe Southwest’s best days lie ahead under the vision and leadership of Bob Jordan and the oversight of this reconstituted Board.”
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 Federal Railroad Administration
- Dave Grissen: former group president of Marriott International
- Gregg Saretsky: former CEO of WestJet
- Patricia Watson: Chief Information and Technology Officer at NCR Atleos
Southwest also announced it entered into a cooperation agreement which Elliott — a firm designed to help underperforming companies — agreed to standstill, voting, confidentiality, and other provisions.
They also entered an information sharing agreement to enable Southwest to share confidential information regarding company announcements.
Elliott has a roughly 10% stake in Southwest which, while not a controlling one, prompted the airline to adopt a "poison pill" plan to prevent investors like Elliott from taking control of the company, the Dallas Morning News previously reported.
However, Elliott has said it does not intend to seek control of Southwest.
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