DALLAS, June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest
Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today announced the promotion of
Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Linda Rutherford to Executive Vice
President People & Communications, effective immediately.
This news follows last week's announcement of Leadership Plans for
2022. Rutherford will succeed Bob
Jordan in what was the Executive Vice President
Corporate Services role, as he pivots to making the CEO transition
as smooth as possible and spending time with Employees across the
Company.
Rutherford will report directly to Jordan and will continue to
serve as the Chief Communications Officer for the Company. She will
continue to oversee Communications & Outreach and Culture &
Engagement, while adding Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
(DE&I), People, and Southwest Airlines University to her
responsibilities. Reporting to Rutherford in her new role will be
Vice President and Chief People Officer Julie Weber, Managing Director Communications
& Outreach Laurie Barnett, Managing Director Culture &
Engagement Whitney Eichinger, Vice President Southwest Airlines
University Elizabeth Bryant, and Director DE&I Raquel
Daniels.
Rutherford is approaching 30 years at Southwest after joining
the Company in 1992. In recent years, she has helped build
enterprise change agility, continued the strategic implementation
of programming and incentives aimed at nurturing our Corporate
Culture, led Enterprise efforts to develop and implement an
Employee Experience roadmap, championed the enterprise social
business strategy, devised relevant programming for Employee
engagement, and evolved multi-channel communications support system
for multiple stakeholders internally and externally. She guided the
Company's response effort at the Enterprise level to the COVID-19
pandemic and the death of the Company's beloved Founder
Herb Kelleher.
"Linda is an innovative Leader who challenges Southwest to
continually evolve how we engage and champion our Employees and
Communities, and she consistently delivers on our Southwest
Purpose, to connect People to what's important in their lives with
friendly, reliable and low-cost air travel," said Bob Jordan, EVP and incoming CEO.
The carrier also announced Leadership changes in Operational and
Commercial Departments.
Managing Director Tony
Roach is promoted to Vice President Customer
Experience & Customer Relations. In February 2021, Customer Relations/Rapid Rewards
began reporting to Tony Roach, and
Tony's promotion, effective immediately, is indicative of the
significant role that Customer Experience has come to play at
Southwest Airlines, coupled with the critical role that Customer
Relations has played for Southwest for more than 40 years. Roach's
focus will be strengthening efforts to improve Customer
Satisfaction, mitigating Customer complaints, and addressing
Customers' needs proactively. Roach's department will also have an
increased focus on partnering with operating Teams to enhance the
cabin experience and in airports, building out more self-service
for Customers, and managing the enterprise Customer portfolio and
Customer Design Team forum. Roach will continue to report to Senior
Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Ryan Green.
Anthony Gregory, former Vice
President Ground Operations, has accepted a new leadership
position outside of Southwest. Southwest is tremendously grateful
for his 14 years of service, and the Company wishes him the best on
his new endeavor.
Chris Johnson, who was
promoted to Vice President Ground Operations in February,
will immediately assume responsibility for all of Ground Operations
and Provisioning, and will report directly to Senior Vice President
Operations & Hospitality, Steve
Goldberg. As the airline has added new cities to the
Southwest network, Johnson's focus has been on supporting new
Stations, Leaders, and Teams. Johnson's experience has no doubt
guided him in his journey. He started as a Ramp Agent in
Detroit in 1993, and has held
Leadership roles as Ramp Supervisor in Columbus, Manager in Orlando, Assistant Station Leader in
Oakland, Station Leader in
Birmingham, Sacramento, Los
Angeles, and Phoenix, Station Director, Senior Station
Director, and Senior Director of Labor Relations.
"I am thrilled for Linda, Tony, and Chris as they step into
these roles, bringing a combined 78 years of Southwest knowledge
and dedicated service to these positions," said Southwest Airlines
Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly. "As we
move into our next 50 years, we are so fortunate to have such a
strong Leadership Team to guide the next chapter of Southwest
Airlines."
ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
In its 51st year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines
Co. continues to differentiate itself from other air
carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than
56,000 Employees to a Customer base that topped 130 million
Passengers in 2019. Southwest has a robust network of
point-to-point service with a strong presence across top leisure
and business markets. In peak travel seasons during 2019, Southwest
operated more than 4,000 weekday departures among a network of 101
destinations in the United States
and 10 additional countries. In 2020, the carrier added service to
Hilo, Hawaii; Cozumel, Mexico; Miami; Palm Springs,
Calif.; Steamboat Springs;
and Montrose (Telluride/Crested
Butte), Colo. Thus far in 2021, Southwest has initiated
service to Chicago (O'Hare) and
Sarasota/ Bradenton, both on Feb.
14; Savannah/Hilton Head and
Colorado Springs, Colo., both on
March 11; Houston (Bush) and Santa Barbara, Calif., both on April 12; Fresno,
Calif., on April
25; Destin/Fort Walton Beach on May 6; Myrtle Beach
S.C., on May 23; Bozeman, Mont., on May
27; and Jackson, Miss., on June 6. The airline will
begin service to Eugene, Ore., on
Aug. 29; Bellingham, Wash., on Nov. 7; and Syracuse,
NY, on Nov. 14.
The carrier issued its Southwest® Promise in
May 2020 to highlight new and
round-the-clock efforts to support its Customers and Employees
well-being and comfort. Among the changes are enhanced cleaning
efforts at airports and onboard aircraft, along with a federal
mandate requiring every person to wear a mask at all times
throughout each flight. Additional details about the Southwest
Promise are available
at Southwest.com/Promise.
Southwest coined Transfarency® to describe its
purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and
low fares actually staying low. Southwest is the only major U.S.
airline to offer bags fly free® to everyone (first and
second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply,
some carriers offer free checked bags on select routes or in
qualified circumstances). Southwest does not charge change fees,
though fare differences might apply.
Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world,
known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the
carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of
its People and the communities they serve, and an overall
commitment to efficiency and the planet. Learn more about how the
carrier gives back to communities across the world by
visiting Southwest.com/citizenship.
Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at
Southwest.com or by phone at
1-800-I-FLY-SWA®.
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SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.