Former WestJet CEO Gregg Saretsky has resigned from Sabre’s board of directors alongside his announcement as a potential nominee to Southwest Airlines’ board by activist investor Elliott Investment Management, according to a filing by Sabre to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
On Monday, Saretsky informed Sabre “for the first time that he had provided assistance to a third party with respect to its investment in a customer of Sabre,” according to the filing. “Sabre had no knowledge of, and had not consented to, such assistance, and as a result, the board asked for his resignation.”
Saretsky resigned from the board that same day, reducing the size of Sabre’s board of directors to nine members, according to Sabre.
The CEO of WestJet throughout most of the 2010s, Saretsky joined Sabre’s board in 2020 and was elected its lead independent director in 2022. He was among 10 candidates named by Elliott on Tuesday as would-be nominees to Southwest’s board, part of the hedge fund’s aggressive push for management changes at the carrier, including threats of a proxy battle.
