Airline CEO picks show new guard at carriers is pretty old

The leadership transition at Southwest shows that grabbing the top job at US carriers is still an insider’s game. Southwest anointed Bob Jordan, a 33-year company veteran, to succeed CEO Gary Kelly next year. That means that all but one of the nine CEO appointments at US airlines since 2016 have gone to insiders. And the list of winners doesn’t include any women or people from racial minorities. The record points to a dissonance at the highest level of an industry trying to shed its image as an old boys’ club. Airlines have been among the loudest corporate voices touting their diversity efforts amid a national discussion of sexual harassment and systemic racism. But when board directors choose CEOs, experience within the company trumps rhetoric about opening the door to newcomers with fresh perspectives that might elude the old guard. “The board didn’t consider ever going outside the company because the candidates we have who are ready for CEO responsibilities are right there within the company,” Kelly said Wednesday. “They know the company, they know the culture, they know the industry. We did not consider bringing in someone new.” Experts from centers of innovation such as Silicon Valley’s tech giants and centers of disruption like Detroit’s fast-electrifying automakers need not apply. And while Kelly pointed to women and minorities who are already in senior leadership roles at the Dallas-based airline, he said more progress needs to be made readying the next-generation of leaders. “We absolutely need to get more candidates in the future who are women, who are racially diverse.”<br/>