Southwest Chair Gary Kelly to step down amid activist pressure

Southwest Airlines Executive Chairman Gary Kelly announced on Tuesday that he will retire after the carrier’s annual meeting next year.

Six current directors informed the board of their plans to voluntarily step down immediately after the company’s regularly scheduled board meeting in November. 

The board, meanwhile, reiterated its support for CEO Bob Jordan, who took the reins of the airline after Kelly stepped down from the role after 18 years in 2022.

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The news comes as the Dallas-based carrier faces growing pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management to make sweeping changes, including at the board level. The investment firm and the carrier’s board met on Monday to discuss “refreshment efforts” at the company, and other corporate governance changes amid a tumultuous time for the carrier. 

In the meeting with Elliott, “we shared a specific framework to address its concerns about corporate governance and performance, and we are continuing to engage constructively toward a collaborative resolution in the near term,” Kelly said in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday. “In the meantime, it is important that we not delay the meaningful Board refreshment and corporate governance changes already underway, which we discussed with Elliott.”

The airline has been facing an activist investor challenge from Elliott since June. The investment firm has called for a “comprehensive” review of Southwest’s business and continues to increase its stake in the carrier.

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As part of Elliott’s push for a business review, it said the airline has “written off key commercial innovations and revenue opportunities across the airline industry” in the past, like checked bag fees.

In Tuesday’s letter, Kelly told shareholders that the years emerging from the pandemic had been “especially challenging, with soaring industry costs and capacity,” and that the carrier’s performance had fallen short of its expectations.

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Since last year, a “thorough, comprehensive, and urgent analysis and evaluation of our strategy has been underway,” Kelly said. He believes this will help strengthen the carrier’s position. 

FOX Business’ Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.