Bob Jordan is now Southwest Airlines’ new CEO. Here’s what’s on his plate

Southwest Airlines’ new CEO, Bob Jordan, has taken on the task of guiding the carrier out of the Covid pandemic after two bruising years. Jordan, 61, who took the reins Tuesday, has 34 years of experience working at Southwest, overseeing a host of initiatives including Southwest’s network expansion and the airline’s acquisition of AirTran. His career has spanned paper tickets to mobile boarding passes. He replaces Gary Kelly, becoming the Dallas airline’s sixth CEO in its five-decade history. Kelly, 66, is staying on as executive chairman after more than 17 years as CEO, completing a succession plan unveiled last June. Jordan faces a host of challenges: a profit-crimping surge in expenses from fuel to salaries, strained relationships with labor, hiring struggles, the slow return of business travel, and ensuring the airline doesn’t repeat costly operational meltdowns of 2021. “Just do the basics right,” said Brett Snyder, a former airline manager who runs the Cranky Flier travel service and website. “Run a good operation. For me, that’s all that matters.” Southwest has already dialed back its growth plans. “If we need to, and I’m not predicting we will, we’ll continue to moderate our capacity because we are going to have a reliable operation for customers,” Jordan said Tuesday. He estimated that Southwest can’t fly between 35 and 40 of its roughly 730 Boeing 737 planes because it lacks sufficient staffing. The airline is planning to eventually ramp up to a fleet of around 1,000 jets. Southwest is already trying to address some of its problems, raising minimum wages to $17 from $15 an hour to try to staff up. Jordan has said the airline plans to hire 8,000 people this year, after 5,000 last year, partially the result of losing thousands of workers in the pandemic at the company’s urging, in a bid to cut its labor bill. Story has more.<br/>