Extra legroom, assigned seats, overnight flights: Inside Southwest Airlines’ plan for its future

Southwest Airlines raised its third-quarter revenue forecast on Thursday and detailed a host of changes to its business model as it seeks to fend off activist Elliott Investment Management.

The airline said it expects unit revenue to rise as much as 3% in the third quarter over the same period last year, up from a previous forecast of a decline of as much as 2%.

The carrier also said it would add Bob Fornaro, a well-respected industry veteran who previously led Spirit Airlines, to its board of directors. Southwest and Fornaro go back more than a decade. He had served as CEO of AirTran, the airline Southwest combined with in 2011, and was a consultant to Southwest after the merger.

Dallas-based Southwest has an investor day scheduled for Thursday when it will try to convince investors that it is on the right track to boost profits and increase revenue. Over the summer, it unveiled dramatic changes to its more than half-century-old business model including assigned and extra-legroom seats, which could generate more for the carrier.

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