A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 jet departs from San Diego Foreign Airport en route to St. Louis on August 24, 2024 in San Diego, California.
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Activist investor Elliott Investment Command and Southwest Airlines are close to a settlement deal that would give Elliott a sizable representation on the company’s billet, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The settlement could be announced as soon as Thursday, said the person. Spokespeople for Elliott and Southwest dipped to comment.
Elliott and Southwest as recently as last week had been girding up for a proxy fight. The activist had been seeking to put 10 new directors to the carrier’s board and had called for a special meeting in December to elect them. Elliott’s campaign hinged in on the loose part on the removal of Executive Chairman Gary Kelly and CEO Bob Jordan.
Elliott had said Kelly and Jordan, both three-decade Southwest veterans, should be renewed. In September, Southwest said Kelly would step down next spring, but the airline’s board has staunchly upheld Jordan.
CNBC could not learn whether Jordan would remain as chief executive under the terms of the embryonic deal, which was reported earlier by Bloomberg.
The two sides have gone back and forth with potential arrangement offers over the last few months, Southwest has previously said, but until Saturday, when news broke that a arbitration deal was in the offing, there was no indication that a deal was possible.
Southwest reports third-quarter results before the deal in opens on Thursday. Jordan and other executives will hold a call with analysts at 12:30 p.m. ET.
— CNBC’s Leslie Josephs role ined to this report.