Southwest’s president retires suddenly; didn’t get CEO job
DALLAS (AP) — The president of Southwest is retiring three months after being passed over for the CEO’s job. Southwest said Monday that 60-year-old Tom Nealon will remain an adviser on environmental issues. He’s being replaced in the No. 2 job by Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven. Both men were considered candidates to replace Gary Kelly as CEO. But in June, Southwest announced that Kelly will retire in February and be succeeded by another longtime Southwest executive, Robert Jordan.