Southwest Airlines Monday named aviation industry veteran Rakesh Gangwal as the independent chair to its board, days after the budget carrier settled its feud with activist investor Elliott. The airline brought in the co-founder of India's largest carrier Indigo to its board in July despite criticism from Elliott Investment Management at the time. Gangwal, an American, has spent several years in senior roles at United Airlines and U.S. Airways. He resigned from the board of Indigo's parent InterGlobe Aviation in 2022. Gangwal bought Southwest shares worth more than $100m last month before the airline settled its boardroom feud with Elliott in a deal that allowed CEO Bob Jordan to retain his job by making bigger board-level concessions. Elliott had been pushing for months to refresh the board and remove Kelly and Jordan, blaming them for the airline's poor performance. As part of the deal, the Dallas-based airline was set to add five Elliott nominees to its board, making it the most seats the hedge fund has ever got in a settlement with a U.S. company. The agreement with Elliott also speeded up the retirement of Executive Chairman Gary Kelly, which went into effect on Nov. 1. The budget carrier also appointed chairs to its board committees on Friday, including the appointment of Elliott nominee Gregg Saretsky as the chair of its finance committee.<br/>
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Sharp falls in Ryanair ticket prices seen earlier this summer have eased significantly and CE Michael O'Leary is optimistic fares will return to growth next summer due to capacity constraints, he said on Monday. The airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, reported an 18% fall in after-tax profit for the six months to the end of September, the first half of its financial year, as average fares fell 10%. Sharp falls in Ryanair ticket prices seen earlier this summer have eased significantly and CE Michael O'Leary is optimistic fares will return to growth next summer due to capacity constraints, he said on Monday. The airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, reported an 18% fall in after-tax profit for the six months to the end of September, the first half of its financial year, as average fares fell 10%. O'Leary said Ryanair had cut its passenger target for the year to March 2026 to 210m from 215m due to Boeing delivery delays, confirming plans reported by Reuters earlier this month, but said a fall in capacity could actually boost profitability. Ryanair's share price, which fell 3% in early trading after the capacity cut was announced, were up 0.2% at 1242 GMT, following the analyst call.<br/>
While Ryanair has factored in continued delays to its incoming Boeing 737 Max 8-200s, the European low-cost carrier still believes the airframer is on track to certify the Max 10 version in time to meet deliveries in the first half of 2027. The budget carrier, which has 150 firm Max 10s on order, with another 150 options, previously indicated it had hoped the Max 10 could follow Max 7 certification in the first half of next year. Outgoing Boeing CE David Calhoun said in July that the long-delayed Max 10 – the largest variant of the 737 Max family – could be certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration in the first half of 2025. While Ryanair now expects Max 10 certification will likely happen in the second half of 2025, it says that remains in line with first deliveries in the first half of 2027. Speaking during a first-half results presentation today, Ryanair CFO Neil Sorahan said: ”As things are going at the moment, we understand that the -7 is on track to be certified in the first half of 2025. If that happens, then I think there is a very good chance that the -10 will be certified in H2 2025, and that will put us still on the road to receive our first Max 10 in the first half of 2027.”<br/>