Southwest Airlines management check
LUV · Industrials · Passenger Airlines · CEO Robert E. Jordan
Filings as of
3 good · 1 to watch · 2 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $95, against $88 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.73 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Flag
What does the CEO cost owners?
3.8% of net income$16.6m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $441.0m of net income.
- n/a
Do they own the stock?
No recent CEO filingNo open-market insider buying or selling in the last six months.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -6.6% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.4% of revenue in the latest year.
- Flag
Is leadership stable?
2 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: Gary C. Kelly, Robert E. Jordan. 14 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Watch
Are the books clean?
An annual report was amendedNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021. 1 amended annual report.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Industrials.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 60 | 55 | |
| Pay for performance | 87 | 86 | |
| CEO cost | 2 | 48 | |
| Skin in the game | — | — | 55 |
| Dilution | 100 | 62 | |
| Stable leadership | 15 | 75 | |
| Clean books | 70 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Passenger Airlines, by management score. Southwest Airlines is 68th of 81 in its sector.
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 27, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Robert E. Jordan | $16.6m | $21.9m | $6.6m | $95 | $88 | $441.0m |
| 2024 | Robert E. Jordan | $10.6m | $9.3m | $4.5m | $66 | $63 | $465.0m |
| 2023 | Robert E. Jordan | $9.3m | $8.5m | $6.0m | $55 | $63 | $465.0m |
| 2022 | Gary C. Kelly, Robert E. Jordan | $5.3m | $4.8m | $2.7m | $63 | $48 | $539.0m |
| 2021 | Gary C. Kelly | $5.8m | $6.0m | $3.1m | $80 | $74 | $977.0m |
The board says pay is tied most to ROIC (after-tax) less Excess Cash. Its other key measures: Operating Margin, excluding special items, Adjusted EBIT, Company Stock Price.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Robert E Jordan (CEO & President) held 534,055 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Aug 5, 2026.
No open-market insider buying or selling in the last six months.
Leadership and governance on file
- Aug 10, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 7, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 10, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 6, 2026Annual report amended10-K/A
- Mar 31, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 10, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 7, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 10, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 7, 2024Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Oct 24, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 26, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 10, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 11, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $4.1bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 141% of net income, and $372.0m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $15.8bn | $23.8bn | $26.1bn | $27.5bn | $28.1bn |
| Net income | $977.0m | $539.0m | $465.0m | $465.0m | $441.0m |
| Stock-based pay | $58.0m | $84.0m | $86.0m | $45.0m | $99.0m |
| Buybacks | $0 | $0 | $0 | $250.0m | $2.5bn |
| Dividends | $0 | $0 | $428.0m | $430.0m | $399.0m |
| Diluted shares | 609m | 642m | 640m | 643m | 558m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.