Southwest's reconstituted board of directors will be chaired by Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of Indian airline IndiGo.
Gangwal also is a former CEO of US Airways and reservations system Worldspan.
Southwest's management appointed Gangwal to the board in July, when activist investor Elliott Investment Management was pressuring Southwest to add board members with airline experience outside of Southwest. Most of the board's committees will also be led by individuals whose appointments were driven by longstanding Southwest leadership rather than Elliott, which agreed to drop its proxy challenge in late October.
Bell CEO Lisa Atherton will chair the compensation committee. Former Brinker CEO Douglas Brooks will chair the audit committee. Former Arconic CEO David Hess will continue to chair the safety and operations committee. Toyota chief strategy officer Chris Reynolds will chair the nominating and corporate governance committee.
The lone committee chair who was part of Elliott's planned proxy slate is former WestJet CEO Gregg Saretsky. He will chair the newly created Southwest board finance committee, an arrangement that was stipulated in the agreement under which Elliott dropped its proxy challenge.
Overall, the reconstituted board includes five members who were appointed as part of that agreement. Eight other board members, including CEO Bob Jordan, are either carryovers from before Elliott took its 11% stake in the company in June or were selected at the recommendation of the airline.
Gangwal replaces Gary Kelly, who stepped down as chairman as part of the deal between Elliott and the airline.