Articles tagged “gary kelly”

When Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly took the job in 2004, the airline industry was reeling from the post-9/11 travel slump and rising oil prices. Now, as he gets ready to retire, it's slowly recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. in between, he remade the airline from scrappy discounter to one of the country's largest airlines.

It's not often that major airlines get a new CEO, and even less common for Southwest Airlines. The carrier will get its sixth leader in half a century next February when Robert Jordan takes the reins from Gary Kelly.

Given Southwest's track record and strong balance sheet, some analysts wonder why the airline keeps hedging fuel. But the airline is sticking with its strategy.

The pictures from Southwest Flight 1380 are scary. But flying remains incredibly safe. Investigators will undoubtedly figure out what happened, and when they do, flying will be even safer.

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly doesn't always make the decisions that Wall Street wants to see, so don't expect him to deviate from his cautious stance.