DALLAS (AP) — The CEO of Southwest Airlines mentioned Wednesday he is not going to resign within the face of strain from a hedge fund that desires him fired and that his management workforce will produce its personal plan to spice up the airline’s financial performance.
CEO Robert Jordan mentioned Southwest will current its plan in September. He declined to present specifics, however once more hinted that it might embrace modifications within the airline’s longstanding boarding and seating policies.
Elliott Funding Administration notified Southwest’s board Monday that it purchased a $1.9 billion stake within the Dallas-based firm and is in search of to interchange Jordan and Gary Kelly, the airline’s chairman and former CEO, with executives from exterior the corporate.
Elliott accused Southwest management of failing to vary with evolving buyer tastes, inflicting it to lag behind rivals. The hedge fund famous that Southwest’s share value has fallen greater than 50% over the previous three years.
Talking to reporters after a Politico occasion in Washington, Jordan mentioned, “I’ve no plans to resign” and that Southwest will deal with Elliott “like some other investor.”
“Elliott can present us concepts. They’ll discuss to different shareholders, however Elliott isn’t directing the corporate,” he mentioned.
Jordan mentioned Southwest is investing in higher know-how — critics blamed outdated techniques for contributing to massive flight cancellations in December 2022. He mentioned the airline can be enhancing the client expertise with higher WiFi, bigger bins for carry-on baggage, and extra energy shops.
Southwest can be contemplating modifications to its cabin and seating, comparable to whether or not to promote some seats with additional legroom, Jordan mentioned.
“We have got an investor day in September, and I am keen to put out a really broad plan for a way we enhance the corporate each from a buyer perspective however from a monetary perspective,” Jordan mentioned. He added that an Elliott presentation aimed toward Southwest shareholders was “pretty mild” on concepts.
Elliott didn’t instantly reply Wednesday when requested if it needed to remark.