Southwest Airlines president Tom Nealon on Monday announced his immediate retirement from his role, though he plans to stay with the airline as a strategic advisor focusing on sustainability.
Nealon, 60, has been Southwest's president for nearly five years and with the carrier for a total of about 15 years. He joined Southwest as SVP and chief information officer in 2002 and, after leaving to take an executive role with retailer JCPenney in 2006, returned to Southwest as a board director in 2010 and later as EVP of strategy and innovation in 2015. Now, as an advisor to the carrier, he will focus primarily on sustainability and Southwest's carbon reduction plan, according to the carrier.
Southwest COO Mike Van de Ven, who has been with the carrier for 28 years, is succeeding Nealon as president, CEO and chairman Gary Kelly announced.
Kelly announced his own retirement in June, with EVP of corporate services Bob Jordan set to take the CEO position on Feb. 1, 2022. In a statement, Kelly said the transition efforts "are going extremely well," and teams that were reporting to Kelly or Nealon, including commercial, are now reporting directly to Jordan.