Southwest names aviation veteran Gangwal as board chairperson

(Reuters) -Southwest Airlines on Monday named aviation industry veteran Rakesh Gangwal as the independent chair to its board, days after the budget carrier settled its feud with activist investor Elliott.

The airline brought in the co-founder of India’s largest carrier Indigo to its board in July despite criticism from Elliott Investment Management at the time.

Gangwal, an American, has spent several years in senior roles at United Airlines and U.S. Airways. He resigned from the board of Indigo’s parent InterGlobe Aviation in 2022.

Gangwal bought Southwest shares worth more than $100 million last month before the airline settled its boardroom feud with Elliott in a deal that allowed CEO Bob Jordan to retain his job by making bigger board-level concessions.

Elliott had been pushing for months to refresh the board and remove Kelly and Jordan, blaming them for the airline’s poor performance.

As part of the deal, the Dallas-based airline was set to add five Elliott nominees to its board, making it the most seats the hedge fund has ever got in a settlement with a U.S. company.

The agreement with Elliott also speeded up the retirement of Executive Chairman Gary Kelly, which went into effect on Nov. 1.

The budget carrier also appointed chairs to its board committees on Friday, including the appointment of Elliott nominee Gregg Saretsky as the chair of its finance committee.