Southwest has put the chief executives of Rocket Companies and Royal Caribbean on its board, and the compensation schedule filed alongside the appointments turns free flights into a benefit measured in decades
Two sitting chief executives joined the board of Southwest Airlines on Monday.
The airline told the Securities and Exchange Commission that its board had appointed Varun Krishna and Jason T. Liberty as directors, effective immediately. Mr Krishna is the chief executive of Rocket Companies and the interim chief executive of Redfin. Mr Liberty is the chair and chief executive of Royal Caribbean Cruises. With both seated, the board grew to thirteen members.
Neither was given a committee.
What the filing says, and what it does not
The document is brief on the appointments themselves. It records that neither man has any interest in a transaction that would need disclosing under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K, and that there are no arrangements or understandings with any other person under which either was selected. It gives no reason for the two additions, names nobody who proposed them, and quotes nobody.
What it does at length is set out what a Southwest director is paid, and that part rewards reading.
A retainer, a stock award, and a very long tail
The cash is ordinary enough. Non-employee directors receive an annual retainer of $100,000, which for Mr Krishna and Mr Liberty will be pro-rated across the June 2026 to May 2027 service period. On top of that, the filing records that for 2026, before these two appointments, board members received common stock awards with a grant date value of approximately $170,000.
Then come the flights.
While serving, a director travels free on Southwest, and so do their spouse and children. They also receive 50 one-way flight passes a year to use without restriction, and a further 50 a year to hand to qualified charitable and 501(c)(3) organisations.
The passes do not stop at the door. After board service ends, a director who served fewer than five terms keeps 50 one-way passes a year for five years. Five terms or more but fewer than ten, and it runs for ten years. Ten terms or more, and the 50 passes a year continue for life.
A second and separately defined benefit, which the filing calls Travel Privileges, works the same way for reserved free travel covering the director and their spouse: five years, ten years, or life, on the same three service bands. Where an appointment or a retirement falls between annual meetings, the filing says credit for the full term is granted.
The cash on the way out is the smaller number
Southwest also runs a severance plan for directors. It pays $35,000 to a non-employee director with at least five years of service at retirement, and $75,000 to one with at least ten.
Set that beside a lifetime of reserved seats for two people and a further 50 passes every year, and the ranking is plain. The filing attaches no value to the travel and is not required to.
The report was signed by Jeff Novota, the airline's senior vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary.
