page_title: Gary C. Kelly
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Gary C. Kelly / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Gary Kelly and Bob Fornaro shake hands to celebrate day one of the AirTran acquisition.
context_page_description: Gary Clayton Kelly is an American business executive. He is the chief executive officer and chairman at Southwest Airlines.
context_section_description: Prior to his work at Southwest, Kelly worked as an Audit Manager for Arthur Young & Co. and a controller for Sterling Software.
  Kelly first joined Southwest Airlines in 1986 as a controller. In 1989, Kelly was promoted to Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance. In 2001, he was promoted to Executive Vice President. Kelly spent 3 years in this role until he was promoted to his current position as CEO and vice chairman in 2004 replacing James Parker who succeeded Herb Kelleher in 2001.
  Kelly was named Chairman of the Board of Directors of Southwest Airlines on May 21, 2008, replacing co-founder Herb Kelleher. Gary Kelly also became president of Southwest Airlines the same year, replacing Colleen Barrett when her contract expired on July 15, 2008.
  As CEO, Kelly has guided the airline to become the largest carrier of domestic passengers in the United States. He has led the company through a number of transformative, large-scale initiatives including the revamp of the airline’s Rapid Rewards program,  the introduction of the Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX  aircraft to Southwest’s fleet, the acquisition of AirTran Airways, the launching of Southwest's first international service, an update to the airline’s branding,  the adoption of the Amadeus reservation system, and large expansion projects at the company’s corporate headquarters in Dallas.
  On January 10, 2017, Kelly announced changes to the Company's executive Leadership ranks with Thomas M. Nealon named as President and Michael G. Van de Ven named as the airline's Chief Operating Officer. These changes were effective immediately.  Kelly retained the title of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
caption: Gary Kelly and Bob Fornaro during AirTran acquisition
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