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Southwest Airlines on Tuesday announced an overhaul of its board of directors, including the planned departure of its executive chairman, Gary Kelly, after a meeting with a hedge fund that has called for sweeping changes at the company. The board announced the changes while expressing unanimous support for the airline’s CE, Bob Jordan, who with Kelly had been the target of sharp criticism from the hedge fund, Elliott Investment Management. In a statement, the airline said its board was “confident that there is no better leader” for Southwest than Jordan, who became CE in February 2022. “Bob has a proven track record over decades, and, most importantly, he has what it takes to lead Southwest through a significant transformation and usher in a new era of profitable growth, innovation and industry leadership,” Kelly, who was CE before Jordan took over, said in a letter to shareholders. Southwest presented its plan to Elliott at a meeting in New York on Monday. It was not clear whether the overhaul would satisfy Elliott, which has a roughly 11% stake in the company. Elliott has called for both Kelly and Jordan to step down and has sought to replace most of the directors on the company’s board.Shares of Southwest were down nearly 3% in morning trading on Tuesday. “We are pleased that the board is beginning to recognize the degree of change that will be required at Southwest, and we hope to engage with the remaining directors to align on the further necessary changes,” Elliott said in a statement. “The need for thoughtful, deliberate change at Southwest remains urgent, and we believe the highly qualified nominees we have put forward are the right people to steady the board and chart a new course for the airline.” Kelly, who was the airline’s CE for nearly two decades before Jordan took over, said he planned to retire after the airline’s annual meeting in the spring. Six other mostly longstanding board members plan to step down after a meeting in November.<br/>

Southwest Airlines is requiring all of its pilots to undergo additional training at its Dallas base after a series of flight incidents this year triggered an enhanced safety review by US regulators. The one-day sessions are intended to foster discussions among aviators about “specific events and working together as a flight crew to appropriately manage risks,” according to a company memo seen by Bloomberg. The carrier plans to bring its personnel to a training facility at its headquarters starting in November and continuing into next year. “Over the past few months, we have seen an increase in safety events” the memo said, noting that “meaningful work is underway to address these events and advance our safety.” The US FAA in July launched an audit of the carrier following multiple flight safety incidents. In April, a Southwest flight plunged to within 400 feet of the ocean off Hawaii. Two other flights — one in June in Oklahoma City and one in July in Tampa, Florida — also flew unusually low, while an aircraft took off from a closed runway in separate lapse. The FAA’s review of Southwest and a similar inquiry into United Airlines Holdings Inc. underscore a heightened focus on safety after multiple carriers experienced headline-grabbing incidents this year. Most notable was a January near-catastrophe in which a door covering blew off a Boeing Co. 737 Max operated by Alaska Airlines shortly after takeoff. <br/>

Low-cost airline Wizz Air will launch services between Europe and the Middle East next year, betting that passengers will trade premium seats and on-board entertainment for no-frills flights lasting about seven hours. The London-listed carrier on Tuesday announced a new route between London Gatwick and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from March next year, as well as flights from Milan to Abu Dhabi from June. Wizz Air will use new long-range single-aisle A321XLR planes on the routes, on order from Airbus. The A321XLR has a range of 8,700km and can fly for up to eight hours when configured with Wizz Air’s all-economy set-up, opening up routes traditionally served by large and less fuel-efficient wide-body planes to low-cost operators. “The Airbus A321XLR is the most cost-efficient aircraft in its class. Its enhanced range capability allows Wizz Air to connect the farthest destinations in its network, while also providing opportunities for further expansion,” said Wizz Air’s CE József Váradi. Several airlines already operate low-cost long-haul routes, including Singapore’s Scoot and Norse Atlantic Airways, which offers transatlantic flights. But unlike those airlines, which offer some of the facilities associated with long-haul flying such as premium cabins and on-board entertainment, Wizz Air’s Middle East flights will compare to its short-haul services in Europe: all economy seats and without frills. Váradi is confident passengers will be happy with an “ultra low-cost” experience on long flights, and said he expected to launch more XLR services out of the UK.<br/>

Guernsey airline Aurigny has secured two more weekly flights to Gatwick Airport for the winter but has "paused" its London Stansted flights.<br/>From the end of October, the new flights would leave Guernsey at 12:10 on Saturdays and 17:15 Sundays, with return flights leaving Gatwick 13:40 on Saturdays and 19:10 on Sundays. An Aurigny spokesperson said the decision followed passenger feedback which indicated Gatwick and London City routes were preferable to Stansted. They added the company would contact travellers booked for Stansted this winter to change their flights to one of the other London airports, or provide a refund. The spokesperson said: "With the added Gatwick flights this winter, we are pausing our Stansted schedule. "While the Stansted route yielded positive results this year, passenger feedback indicated a significantly higher demand for services to London Gatwick and London City." The spokesperson said Aurigny would be able to offer approximately 7,673 seats per week to and from London over the winter, which they said represented an increase of more than a third on the same period last year.<br/>

T'way Air is facing increasing criticism for frequent flight delays and inadequate compensation to customers, which is apparently due to the airline's use of outdated A330-200 passenger jets.The company has been making all-out efforts to expand into Europe after taking over four routes from Korean Air: Frankfurt, Rome, Barcelona and Paris. The deal was part of a precondition concerning Korean Air's approval from the European Commission for its acquisition of Asiana Airlines. However, the ambitious move hit a setback after the airline's passenger flight from Paris to Incheon was delayed by around 21 hours on Aug. 28. The airline is facing criticism for offering lower-than-expected compensation to more than 100 passengers. According to the airline, it decided to offer compensation of 180,000 won ($133.95) to its economy-class passengers. Passengers say that they can seek compensation under a European Union (EU) rule. Per the regulation, any passengers who take a flight from a member country of the EU can receive financial compensation of up to 600 euros, equivalent to over 880,000 won, for flight delays of more than three hours. The airline, however, is mired in a series of similar controversies after its flight from Gimpo to Jeju Island was delayed for some five hours on Sunday morning due to airplane defects. The company also operated the same type of aircraft. Earlier, T'way rented five A330-200 aircraft from Korean Air for its European routes. Industry officials cited T'way Air's operation of old A330-200 aircraft as the key reason for its frequent delays.<br/>