How will Southwest Airlines change its approach to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with the Trump administration in power?
While CEO Bob Jordan said the airline will continue to propagate a DEI culture, he also noted the reality of President Trump's executive order to terminate all DEI programs at federal agencies.
The order doesn't apply to the private sector, but there's speculation that the administration will be hard on corporations that continue to implement DEI initiatives.
"Obviously, there's a lot of questions about the flurry of executive orders," Jordan said during the airline's Q4 earnings call. "And as needed, we'll be evaluating those and understanding what we may need to do."
Southwest drew attention recently when Juan Suarez, the former vice president of DEI, changed his LinkedIn profile to display a renamed title: vice president of corporate citizenship and chief inclusion officer.
On Trump's first day in office, he signed an executive order terminating all federal DEI, DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility) and environmental justice offices and positions; all equity plans, actions, initiatives, programs, grants and contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors or grantees.
Commenting on Southwest's hiring philosophy, Jordan said, "I've been here 37 years. We've always worked hard to hire people who are just nice, they fit the culture and to create an environment that is inclusive."
On Southwest's webpage about its employees, Southwest says its has a commitment to "innovation and positive change, including evolving our recruitment and development practices, creating robust community partnerships and increasing diversity among leadership."