(Bloomberg) -- Southwest Airlines Co.’s top finance executive plans to step down after more than 33 years with the carrier, extending a leadership overhaul in the wake of an activist campaign by shareholder Elliott Investment Management.
Chief Financial Officer Tammy Romo, 62, will retire effective April 1, Southwest said Thursday in a statement. Chief Administration Officer Linda Rutherford, 58, will also depart on the same date, ending the tenures of the airline’s highest-ranking female executives. Southwest said it would begin a search for Romo’s replacement.
The exits come several months after Elliott took a stake in Southwest and demanded broad change, leading to a restructuring of the board and the retirement of Chairman Gary Kelly. The firm also backed other changes to the carrier’s business model, saying it had suffered financially after failing to adapt to changing demands from consumers.
“Tammy and Linda are both respected, long-term executives at Southwest who have made their own personal decisions to retire,” the carrier said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Elliott declined to comment on the planned departures.
Romo joined Southwest in 1991 and was named CFO in 2012. She previously led investor relations and served as controller and treasurer. Rutherford started her Southwest career in 1992 in public relations.
--With assistance from Crystal Tse.
(Updates with Southwest comment in the fourth paragraph.)
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