Southwest Airlines has named Tom Doxey, former president of US discounter Breeze Airways, as successor to longtime chief financial officer Tammy Romo, who is set to retire.
Doxey, who worked as Breeze’s president from May 2022 to October of last year, will assume Southwest’s CFO role on 10 March. He will be tasked with helping revive Southwest as a reliably profitable airline.
“Tom’s expertise in financial planning, fleet management and operational leadership makes him a tremendous asset to our executive team as drive progress on our transformational plan,” says Bob Jordan, Southwest’s chief executive.
The Dallas-based carrier previously disclosed that Romo will retire on 1 April, a move coming amid Southwest’s strategic revamp to boost sagging profits.
Romo has been the airline’s CFO since 2012, and first joined Southwest in 1991. Her looming departure signals a continued shake-up of the company’s senior leadership team, including last year’s departure of former CEO and executive chairman Gary Kelly and the appointment of several new directors.
Doxey’s background includes helping guide Breeze’s start-up phase after it launched in March 2021. The low-cost carrier recently posted its first full-quarter operational profit.
He also formerly worked as vice-president of fleet and corporate finance at Las Vegas-based ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant Air and held several titles at United Airlines, most recently that of senior vice-president of technical operations.
Southwest says Doxey oversaw United’s fleet transactions and “had financial oversight for United’ $18 billion operations budget”.
Southwest’s fourth-quarter profit improved considerably over the same period of 2023, as it posted a $261 million gain, compared with its prior-year loss of $252 million.
However, the company’s full-year profit of $465 million almost exactly matched its 2023 mark. Jordan acknowledged during Southwest’s recent earnings call that the airline’s cost structure is “not where we want it to be”.
