Southwest shareholder Artisan Partners issues statement on board candidates

Southwest shareholder Artisan Partners, whose discretionary investment management clients collectively hold more than 10.8 million shares of Southwest, or roughly 1.8% of the company’s outstanding shares, issued a statement regarding director candidates for the Board of Southwest Airlines. Highlights include: “We have reviewed the biographies of the director nominees proposed by Elliott Investment…We believe the Elliott nominees would bring a wealth of experience to the Southwest board. These nominees would add several capabilities the board is currently lacking, including a number of independent directors with former airline executive experience from across a range of business models and geographies. The current Southwest board is simply not a credible alternative to this slate of directors…The current board has overseen a management team that has delivered continually deteriorating financial performance over the short, medium and long term…We urge the board to work with Elliott to immediately bring on all or substantially all of the proposed nominees who can then chart a new course with a new Chairman and CEO. If it will not, we will vote for the Elliott nominees should an extraordinary shareholder meeting be called…”