Southwest Airlines Co. LUV
The three reasons
- 1
Shareholders lost more than 50% over three years under Kelly and Jordan
- 2
Eighth guidance reduction in 18 months reveals failure at basic revenue management
- 3
Incumbent-led board refreshment is an entrenchment sham, not credible governance
Primary demands
- Replace Executive Chairman Gary Kelly and CEO Bob Jordan with new leadership from outside the company
- Elect Elliott's slate of ten independent director nominees to refresh the Board
- Form a new board-level committee to conduct a comprehensive business review and drive transformational change
- Reject the company's unilateral, incumbent-led board refreshment process
- Provide shareholders a direct say via a special meeting if engagement fails
KPIs cited
Pattern membership
Where this document fits across the library's 12 rhetorical / structural patterns.
Notable slides (3)
Notes
Open letter on Stronger Southwest campaign letterhead (custom branded with Southwest-style red/yellow/blue swoosh). Pure prose letter with no charts or data visualizations — visual interest is low but rhetorical craft is strong. Notable rhetorical moves: (1) repeatedly quotes Jordan's own words ('strong... despite the financial results', 'battle for the heart of our company', 'one of many' investors) to expose contradiction and arrogance; (2) cites third-party validation from Artisan Partners and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association; (3) frames management response (poison pill, sudden assigned-seating announcement, unilateral board refreshment) as entrenchment tactics. Appendix (pp.6-9) contains detailed bios of all 10 director nominees — heavy aviation expertise (Ryanair, Virgin America, Hawaiian, Air Canada, WestJet, JetBlue). Page 10 discloses ~11% economic exposure. Campaign phase = proxy_fight: Elliott has formally nominated a slate and explicitly threatens to take it to a special meeting.