Southwest Airlines’ executive chairman Gary Kelly, along with six other members of the board of directors, have announced plans to voluntarily step down from their roles. Kelly plans to retire after Southwest’s 2025 Annual Meeting in the spring, while the others will vacate their roles after the company’s regularly scheduled board meeting in November.
The moves come after months of pressure from top investor Elliott Investment Management, which, in August, shared plans to replace up to 10 members of Southwest’s board. Elliott had specifically called for the replacement of Kelly, as well as Southwest’s CEO Robert Jordan, citing the company’s poor financial performance.
After Elliott announced it had acquired an approximately 11 percent stake in Southwest, the airline implemented measures to make it more difficult for the investment firm to acquire a larger percentage of the company. It then announced several sweeping changes to its operations, including assigned seating, premium seating options, and new check-in and boarding procedures. These were the first such changes for the carrier in over 50 years.
Kelly has been with Southwest for 38 years, acting as CEO from 2004 to 2022 and as a chairman since 2008. He intended to remain as chairman through at least 2026.
Following the retirement of the six board members, four new directors will be appointed with up to three coming from Elliott’s list of candidates. While Elliott wanted to remove Jordan as well, the board expressed its confidence that “there is no better leader than Bob Jordan to successfully execute Southwest Airlines’ robust strategy to evolve the airline.”
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