Southwest Airlines COO Andrew Watterson Receives Restricted Stock Award

What Happened

• Andrew M. Watterson, Chief Operating Officer of Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV), received an award of 2,995 restricted stock units (RSUs) on August 5, 2026. The reported acquisition price per unit was $0.00 (total reported value $0), reflecting a compensation grant rather than a market purchase or sale.

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-08-05; Filing date: 2026-08-07 (timely under Form 4 rules).
• Transaction type/code: Award/Grant (A).
• Shares/units granted: 2,995 RSUs at $0.00 per unit (total $0 reported).
• Vesting: RSUs vest one-third annually beginning August 21, 2027; each vested RSU converts to one share of common stock (per footnote).
• Post-transaction holdings: Not specified in the provided summary; filing notes some holdings reflect exempt transactions under the Issuer's Retirement Savings Plan (footnote F2).
• Footnotes: F1—grant under the Southwest Airlines Amended and Restated 2007 Equity Incentive Plan with the stated vesting schedule; F2—certain holdings reflect exempt retirement-plan transactions.
• No indication this was an immediate sale or exercise; this is a standard equity compensation grant.

Context

• RSU grants are typical executive compensation and generally vest over time, aligning retention incentives with company performance or tenure. Because this was an award (not an open-market purchase or sale), it should be viewed as compensation-related rather than a direct signal of short-term insider buying or selling.