Southwest Airlines board member Elliott requests a special meeting in December and reduces the slate to 8 members.

• Since 2017, Elliott has formally called for a special meeting at Southwest Airlines, marking his first U.S. proxy fight.
• The CEO of the carrier, Bob Jordan, is facing removal from his position due to the efforts of an activist investor who holds an 11% stake in the company.
• Elliott has requested a meeting date of Dec. 10 and reduced its board slate from 10 nominees to eight.

A proxy fight for control of the board of a carrier has been formally launched by Elliott Investment Management, as requested in a special meeting.

The activist has requested a meeting date of Dec. 10, while Elliott has reduced its board slate from 10 to 8, following Southwest's reduction of its board size from 15 to 12.

CNBC reported last month that Elliott was preparing to call a special meeting.

Since taking on Arconic in 2017, Southwest's campaign will be Elliott's first U.S. proxy fight.

Elliott, with an 11% stake in the airline, is seeking to remove CEO Bob Jordan and executive chairman Gary Kelly from their positions. However, Gary Kelly announced he would step off the company's board in a September shuffle that reduced Southwest's board size.

David Hess, who joined Southwest's board in 2021, was also on the board of Arconic during its proxy fight with Elliott. Despite Elliott targeting Hess for removal, he ultimately became CEO of the Alcoa spinoff shortly before the company settled with Elliott.

Elliott has never before called for a special meeting, which is more difficult to approve at Southwest compared to voting at a regularly scheduled shareholder meeting. Elliott will have approximately two months to gather support from both large and small shareholders.

Artisan Partners, a top Southwest shareholder, has publicly supported Elliott's campaign.

The airline's shares increased by approximately 1% in premarket trading after Southwest representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Southwest announced its plans to increase revenue at an investor day last month, including offering extra legroom seats and abandoning its assigned seating model. The company has remained loyal to Jordan.

In Jordan's view, Elliott's dismissal of Southwest's strategy as rushed and haphazard is inane.

One of the world's most active investor activists is Elliott, who has taken on companies such as and.

Elliott partner John Pike and portfolio manager Bobby Xu stated that the nominees they have presented are uniquely qualified to hold the company's executive leadership accountable and ensure that the company delivers improved results.

— CNBC's Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.