Transportation
Southwest Air Taps New Board Member in Showdown With Elliott
- Appointment made after activist investor pushes for change
- Gangwal was co-founder of InterGlobe Aviation and IndiGo
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 airplane at Baltimore-Washington Airport.
Photographer: Angus Mordant/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Southwest Airlines Co. appointed aviation industry veteran Rakesh Gangwal to its board, an effort to fortify the carrier’s leadership amid demands for sweeping change from activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
The addition of Gangwal, the billionaire co-founder of InterGlobe Aviation, which controls Indian budget carrier IndiGo, is the second defensive step taken by Southwest in response to Elliott’s $1.9 billion stake. The carrier last week adopted a “poison pill” shareholder rights plan.