FILE - Southwest Airlines chief operating officer Andrew Watterson responds to questions during a news conference at the company’s headquarters in Dallas, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024.

In this week’s aviation news, the monthslong feud between Southwest Airlines and Elliott Investment Management has apparently ended with a deal that will add several new directors to the airline’s board — but not enough to gain majority control; Spirit Airlines is reportedly reconsidering a merger with Frontier as a possible way out of its financial troubles; the Transportation Department hits American with a huge fine for mistreatment of disabled passengers and their mobility devices; the DOT and Justice Department’s Antitrust Division launch a “broad public inquiry” into the state of competition in air travel; United launches a new route from San Francisco to Mexico; United, Delta, American and JetBlue adjust international schedules as the seasons change; JetBlue drops more California routes but adds Mint service in some markets; Google Flights introduces a new “cheapest” option for fare searches but it comes with a major cost to comfort; American Airlines uses technology to block passengers trying to board ahead of their turn; San Francisco International sets a November opening date for temporary walkways that will bypass Terminal 3 construction.

It looks like the long-running battle between Southwest Airlines and the activist shareholder group Elliott Investment Management has been settled after discussions between the two parties arrived at a power-sharing compromise. Elliott, which holds an 11% stake in the airline, had been pushing for a proxy vote in December to install enough of its preferred candidates on the airline’s board to give it a majority and effective control of the company. Southwest said this week it has agreed to accept five of Elliott’s chosen candidates among the six new directors who will join the board effective Nov. 1 — but that will still leave seven existing Southwest directors in the majority after the board shrinks to a total of 13 members next year.

Southwest said its existing executive chairman Gary Kelly, who had already agreed to retire next year, will now move up his departure to Nov. 1, and the revised board will appoint a new executive chairman. Elliott has dropped its call for a special shareholders’ meeting in December and has entered into a cooperation pact with the airline, as Southwest agreed to share confidential company information with the hedge fund. “I believe Southwest’s best days lie ahead under the vision and leadership of Bob Jordan and the oversight of this reconstituted Board,” Kelly said in a statement, suggesting that the compromise deal did not include one of Elliott’s strongest demands: the ouster of Jordan as the airline’s CEO. Elliott had also demanded changes in Southwest’s business model, some of which the airline had previously agreed to implement — e.g., a shift from open to assigned seating and the addition of a premium seating section. But Southwest has pledged to keep its policy of allowing all passengers to check two bags for no fee.

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FILE - A Spirit Airlines plane prepares to take off from Oakland International Airport on July 28, 2022, in Oakland, Calif.

Before financially troubled Spirit Airlines entered into a $3.8 billion merger agreement with JetBlue in October 2022, the low-cost carrier was also involved in talks for a similar deal with Frontier Airlines, but Frontier was outbid by JetBlue. Since the JetBlue-Spirit merger was blocked by a federal judge earlier this year after the Justice Department challenged it over antitrust concerns, Spirit’s financial straits have worsened, with talk........

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