Southwest Airlines has amended its agreement with Elliott Investment Management on February 19, 2025.
The amended cooperation agreement includes the investor's maximum economic exposure it may acquire from 14.9% to 19.9%. The airline said that the agreement maintains restrictions on Elliott's beneficial ownership of 12.49% until April 1, 2026.
The airline had reached an agreement with the activist investor in October last year. The two parties had had a contentious relationship since the investor acquired an approximate 11% stake in the airline earlier in 2024. Elliott had pushed for leadership change in the airline, originally planning to nominate 10 members to Southwest’s board of 15 directors before nominating eight members.
As part of the ‘cooperation and information sharing agreements’ with Elliott, Southwest had appointed five of Elliott’s original nominees David Cush, Sarah Feinberg, Dave Grissen, Greg Saretsky, and Patricia Waston as independent directors of the board. In addition, former CFO of Chevron Pierre Breber was also appointed to the board. These appointments were effective November 2024.
Southwest executive vice president & chief transformation officer Ryan Green will also be stepping down from his position on April 1, 2025, Southwest said.
The airline said on February 18, 2025, it will be cutting 15% of its corporate workforce.