Officer Biographies
|
Gary Kelly serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Southwest Airlines. A 21-year Southwest veteran who became CFO in 1989, Gary has worked closely with Southwest's legendary Chairman Herb Kelleher and President Colleen Barrett to build the nation's sixth-largest airline -- and the undisputed low-fare leader.
Gary began his career at Southwest Airlines as Controller, moving up to Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance, then Executive Vice President and CFO, before being promoted to CEO and Vice Chairman in July 2004. Prior to joining Southwest Airlines in 1986, Gary was a CPA for Arthur Young & Company in Dallas and Controller for Systems Center, Inc.
Southwest Airlines is celebrating 34 years of consecutive profitability and was recently named #1 in Customer Satisfaction by the Department of Transportation for year 2006. And, for the tenth year in a row, Fortune Magazine listed Southwest Airlines number three among America’s Top Ten most admired corporations. In January of 2007, Institutional Investor Magazine named Gary one of the best CEOs in America. The Dallas Morning News “business editors” named Gary as a finalist for Texan of the Year 2005. He was also named one of Business Travel News' 25 Most Influential Executives 2004.
Gary received a B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of Financial Executives Institute; Texas Society for CPA’s, and he serves on the McCombs School Accounting Advisory Board and the Advisory Council at the University of Texas at Austin. He also serves on the board of the Dallas Citizens’ Council.
Back to Officer Biographies Index
