{"id":76475,"date":"2024-09-24T18:00:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T18:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/guid_108038321"},"modified":"2024-09-24T18:00:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T18:00:13","slug":"elliott-to-call-for-southwest-special-meeting-as-soon-as-next-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/elliott-to-call-for-southwest-special-meeting-as-soon-as-next-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Elliott to call for Southwest special meeting &#8216;as soon as next week&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/elliott-to-call-for-southwest-special-meeting-as-soon-as-next-week.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"HighlightShare-hidden\" style=\"top:0;left:0\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"RelatedQuotes-relatedQuotes\" id=\"RegularArticle-RelatedQuotes\">\n<div class=\"RelatedQuotes-quotesContainer\">\n<div class=\"RelatedQuotes-titleAndTime undefined\">\n<p class=\"RelatedQuotes-text\">In this article<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"RelatedQuotes-list\">\n<li class=\"QuoteItem-item\" aria-label=\"Quote for null\"><span class=\"waslinkname\"><span class=\"QuoteItem-symbol\">LUV<\/span><\/span><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"RegularArticle-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"RegularArticle-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"RelatedQuotes-cfaButtonContainer\"><button id=\"ArticlePageTickerCreateAccountButton\" class=\"CreateFreeAccountButton-buttonContainer\"><span class=\"CreateFreeAccountButton-buttonText\"><span>Follow your favorite stocks<\/span><span class=\"CreateFreeAccountButton-buttonTextBold\">CREATE FREE ACCOUNT<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-108038261\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imagePlaceholder\" style=\"padding-bottom:55.55555555555556%\">\n<div style=\"height:100%\" class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCaption\">A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 departs Los Angeles International Airport en route to Las Vegas on September 19, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCredit\">Kevin Carter | Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Elliott&nbsp;Management said Tuesday it will call a special meeting at <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-1\"><span class=\"waslinkname\">Southwest Airlines<\/span><span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> &#8220;as soon as next week,&#8221; shortly after the company put forward a sweeping board shake-up that it hoped might stave off a proxy fight.<\/p>\n<p>The push comes days before the airline&#8217;s investor meeting, where it is expected to unveil improvements and operating changes. Elliott is seeking to oust CEO Bob Jordan and Executive Chairman Gary Kelly, the latter of whom has already committed to stepping down in 2025. The activist has put forward a 10-director slate comprised of airline executives and former regulators or government officials.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height:100%\" class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;We believe that competent new leaders, working through a deliberate and thoughtful process, should chart the course forward for Southwest,&#8221; Elliott partner John Pike and portfolio manager Bobby Xu said in a letter to shareholders.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We do&nbsp;not<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>support the Company&#8217;s current course, which is being charted in a haphazard manner by a group of executives in full self-preservation mode,&#8221; Pike and Xu wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Southwest&#8217;s shareholder meeting is typically scheduled for May, but by calling for a special meeting Elliott is looking to elect new directors much sooner than that. It takes a few months for both sides to solicit shareholder support, and a settlement is always possible in the interim.<\/p>\n<p>Elliott said Southwest&#8217;s advisors were maneuvering to limit the number of shareholders eligible to vote, via something known as a &#8220;false record date.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Southwest Airlines in July unveiled&nbsp;<span class=\"waslinkname\">major changes<\/span>&nbsp;to its more than 50-year-old business model: It will soon ditch open seating for assigned seats, offer seats with more legroom that command higher fares and start operating red-eye flights. Last week, COO Andrew Watterson warned staff to brace for more &#8220;<span class=\"waslinkname\">difficult decisions<\/span>&#8221; in its push to restore profits as the airline faces rising costs and shifting travel patterns.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height:100%\" class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p>The company isn&#8217;t planning to furlough workers but it could cut its presence in certain cities and give workers the chance to transfer to other bases, according to a person familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Southwest will release a routine schedule update on Wednesday that will show its flights through early June. Earlier this month, Kelly, who served as Southwest&#8217;s CEO before handing the reins to Jordan in early 2022, said he would&nbsp;<span class=\"waslinkname\">step down<\/span>&nbsp;after the carrier&#8217;s shareholder meeting next spring.<\/p>\n<p>The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which represents Southwest&#8217;s mechanics and met with Elliott, said last week the&nbsp;activist investor made &#8220;clear that its vision of a Southwest turnaround is one where Robert Jordan does not remain as CEO, and if&nbsp;Elliott&nbsp;can assert enough Board influence, other top executives would also, most likely, be replaced.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The need for change is urgent, and our request for a special meeting may come as soon as next week,&#8221; Pike and Xu said.<\/p>\n<p>Southwest did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-relatedContent\" id=\"RegularArticle-RelatedContent-1\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-container\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-nonCollapsibleContent\">\n<h2 class=\"RelatedContent-header\">Don\u2019t miss these insights from CNBC PRO<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"waslinkname\">Market bull Tom Lee hesitant to jump into this post-Fed rally<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"waslinkname\">Here are the stocks that win when the Fed cuts rates with no recession<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"waslinkname\">Value investor Bill Nygren looking outside of crowded megacap tech, adds cheap financial stock<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"waslinkname\">Some smaller stocks could see big gains as the Fed cuts rates. Here are a few<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"ArticleBody-MobileAdhesion\" class=\"MobileAdhesion-container\" data-module=\"mps-slot\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this article LUV Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 departs Los Angeles International Airport en route to Las Vegas on September 19, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.&nbsp; Kevin Carter | Getty Images Elliott&nbsp;Management said Tuesday it will call a special meeting at Southwest Airlines &#8220;as soon as next week,&#8221; &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bussiness","has-thumb","has-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76475"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}