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Skift Global Forum Preview: Incoming Southwest CEO Robert Jordan on Pulling Off New Service to 18 Airports in 18 Months

Madhu Unnikrishnan
Southwest Airlines

Photo Credit: Robert Jordan, Southwest's incoming CEO, says his vision for the company builds on his predecessors, current CEO Gary Kelly and founder Herb Kelleher. Wikimedia Commons / Eric Salard

Skift Take

Incoming Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan sees the pandemic's road to recovery in four stages: Survive, stabilize, repair, and prosper.  Right now, he says his airline is still in the stabilize phase.

Southwest Airlines is not only dealing with the worst crisis in the history of the airline industry, but it's also dealing with a leadership transition. Gary Kelly, CEO since 2004, is stepping down next year, to be replaced by Robert Jordan, currently executive vice president for corporate services. Jordan is no stranger to Southwest, having joined the company 33 years ago in its IT department. And that informs his  vision for the airline. Jordan says he plans to stay the course set by Kelly. That means more expansion into major markets, like Chicago O'Hare and Miami, and more of a focus on business travelers — at least in the long term — and a focus on leisure demand in the near term. Like Kelly, Jordan believes business travel could take years to recover. This is a sharp contrast to other U.S. airline leaders, who sound a more optimistic note on business travel's recovery.

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For now, though, Southwest is at a crossroads thanks to the coronavirus. Although the carrier still can boast of not having furloughed or laid off a single employee in its entire history, its staff is much smaller than it was before the pandemic, due to voluntary buyouts and extended leaves of absence it offered to reduce headcount during the worst parts of the crisis. One of the first challenges Jordan will face is building the staff back up to meet growing travel demand. The second is confronting a virus that just won't quit. "I think we were all hopeful and optimistic the worst was behind us back in the spring," Jordan said of the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic. S

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