SWA Activist investor wants new BOD

Bandit_Driver

Bandit_Driver

Gold Member
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/24/ell...ust,former regulators or government officials.

Elliott Management said Tuesday it will call a special meeting at Southwest Airlines “as soon as next week,” shortly after the company put forward a sweeping board shake-up that it hoped might stave off a proxy fight.

The push comes days before the airline’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......
 
I like activist investors, not because of any of their “outside” “thinking” or nickel-shaving for the stockholders, but because they are sometimes the only thing that can make executive officers sweat and be unsure of their jackass station.

They flop the question out on the table under a lamp: “Are you really worth what you are paid?”
 
Minuteman said:
I like activist investors, not because of any of their “outside” “thinking” or nickel-shaving for the stockholders, but because they are sometimes the only thing that can make executive officers sweat and be unsure of their jackass station.

They flop the question out on the table under a lamp: “Are you really worth what you are paid?”
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I’m not sure what to think of a activist investors. In some cases, it seems like a personal feud that has little to do with the company’s well-being. Executive compensation seems like a popular target of scorn but rarely is it significant enough to really affect financials or stock health.

Often just another form of attention-seeking behavior.
 
///AMG said:
Love "activist investors". So smart. So valuable. So worthy of attention.
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I get the sentiment, but as someone who's a shareholder and flies WN a fair bit, whatever they're doing isn't working. The fuel hedgings of the early aughts that made them Wall Street darlings no longer exist and their labor force is now mature as well as those associated costs.

WN hasn't been an LCC for a while now and they need to stop behaving like they are. They need to start correcting some of the quirks that make people hate having to fly them and getting rid of things like open boarding is a step in the right direction.
 
2.5 billion stock repurchase plan announced, along with a bunch of other stuff including international airline partnerships. Assigned seats come in 2026.
 
Southwest made a big deal about a 97/98 interline agreement with Icelandair doing CLE-BWI-KEF-Europe. I don't remember if the codeshare spread to more cities than just CLE like they planned but it was over with quickly. Unsurprisingly. Fares would have to be so cheap for most people in CLE to do that instead of taking CO to EWR/IAH or UA/AA to ORD ect and 1 connection to Europe on carriers with IFE by the late 90s. Those shortish legs would be exhausting I feel like by the time you got to Europe. Now that Southwest and Icelandair both have more frills amd more connecting options in modern times and the bar has been set low by WOW Air and PLAY, maybe it can work out on some routes for the right cheap bastard(s).
 
Mentour makes a fairly convincing case that this is basically a pump n dump. To wit, SWA is hamstrung by the Max7's uh let's call it "extended gestation", causing all kinds of chaos in the balance sheet. Elliot swoops in, claiming that the management team has screwed everything up, gets their preferred board-members in...just in time for the Max7 to finally get certified, at which point they proclaim Victory, sell out at 150-200%, and are lauded for their lead-pipe cruel-but-necessary treatment, when they did essentially nothing. Murca!
 
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