I understand the scenario. I didn't say I was for Elliott's plan at all, I just said I am pro regime change. Elliott so far has been long on criticism and short on plans. What even is their plan? I don't know if anyone is sure.

I listened the the Muñoz podcast today and I agree with him on every point except retaining Bob Jordan. As he stated so well, Elliott is "here for a good time, not a long time." They have no interest in the day to day running of this company other than how it attains their goals to cash out and leave.

Jordan is, I assume in an attempt to pay off a bloc of potential proxy voters, straight up bribing them with buybacks based on a scheme to become an aircraft sales and leasing organization. Great, way to finally leverage those assets, but it doesn't do anything but temporarily improve the bottom line. That temporary improvement has already been spoken for in the form of effing stock buybacks, which are quite frankly the worst possible way for a company to use its free cash.

I would like to remind everybody who got us into this mess: Gary Kelly and Bob Jordan and their stable of Kelly hand picked lieutenants. This airline needs an outside influence in a bad way. I am pro company all the way. I want Southwest to succeed and rule the world, but the current regime had their chance along with all the tools to do it. Time for someone else's turn.

To your point on furloughing employees - with all due respect, SWA attempted to furlough and SWAPA went to bat and saved pilot jobs in the "save our Johnson" campaign. Fast forward and during the dark days of Covid they chose to send warn letters over Christmas and would have certainly furloughed 1221 pilots had they not gotten a tranche of psp money from uncle sugar. So save me the pro company spiel. They aren't someone to be admired.

 

Now Gangwahl, recently appointed to the SWA BOD, has bought a large chunk of stock. Not only does this give him outsized influence on the board and as a potential proxy voter, but he is essentially hitching his wagon to Jordan's plan of buybacks in order to boost the share price and reward himself.

As Zard said to me earlier, "is Elliott getting outmaneuvered by objectively the dumbest effing corporate board that exists today?!"

The plot certainly thickens. I think this will either end in a negotiated peace or a very close and nasty proxy battle. In any case, we are living in interesting times.

If Jordan and Kelly (they are one and the same essentially) succeed, they will have blown $2B and untold amounts of customer goodwill in an epic meltdown as well as now authorized $2.5B in buybacks to bribe the stakeholders of an activist campaign that they ushered in. Not only that, but they are short on cash to cover it, so they are leveraging hard assets to make it happen. It's going to take a lot of single engine taxi and cost index 5 to make up for that.

 

But did they furlough? No, has every other airline in this country furloughed? Yes, has every other airline filed bankruptcy at least once to get rid of lot of their debt to be able to compete with us? Yes, You may not like those facts, but they are large and speak volumes about SWA. Do changes need to happen? Sure they do. Are they making those changes, sure seems like it.

 

1,221 of us aren’t buying it! Job security is no longer a valid reason to pass over the legacies for a job at SWA. If you do, you’re an idiot! There are other reasons, that’s true…but not job security.

 

But you did not get furloughed that is a fact. So you call me a" idiot" because I presented you with a known fact? Thats amazing. So I would argue you have more job security here than at any other carrier, because of the fact SWA has never furloughed and they talk about that a lot. However you get Elliot's hand picked managment team in here, then they could care less, and all bets are off, because all they care about is how much money can they pull out of company. If that happens, I say the chances of pilots getting kicked to street go up 75% maybe even to 100%.

 

Actually, I was in no way calling you an idiot, specifically. However, now I am. You’ve made me sure of it.

 

I think a person who is unwilling to accept facts is more of an idiot than someone who just reminds you of those facts. So what would that make you?

 

no, neither Alaska or Jet Blue have ever filed for bankruptcy.

 

Buchanan sounds like someone who has more koolaid drinking than perspective.

The point isn't whether they furloughed or not. The point is they would have if forces had not intervened. I personally think threatening 1221 pilots with furlough over Christmas (early I might add) as a bargaining chip is terrible.

All of this is beside the point. There is no special sauce at SWA. They rose above their station quickly due to great timing, luck, and market forces. They had an amazing founder who led them there. Now it is just another big airline going through an existential crisis.

 

How did an established airline like Alaska cancel pilot pensions without running their PWA through a BK proceeding? SWA and Jet Blue never had pensions to lose.