Southwest Airlines shakes up its board under pressure from a big shareholder

Southwest Airlines will revamp its board and the chairman will retire next year, but it intends to keep CEO Robert Jordan in a partial concession to hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, which has been pushing for changes at the airline including Jordan’s ouster.

Southwest said Tuesday that six directors will leave the board in November and it plans to appoint four new, independent directors, potentially including candidates put forward by Elliott.

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. fell 4% in morning trading Tuesday.

Elliott, the fund led by billionaire investor Paul Singer, has built a 10% stake in recent weeks and advocated changes it says will improve Southwest’s financial performance and stock price.