Southwest CEO tests positive for Covid after being exposed in the Senate with fellow airline chiefs

Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines, testifies during a Senate hearing on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on December 15, 2021.

Chip Somodevilla | Swimming pool | Reuters

Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines, had tested positive for Covid-19, the company said on Friday. The news came after a Senate hearing at which he and other airline chiefs and lawmakers did not wear masks.

Kelly, along with the CEOs of United Airlines and American Airlines, the chief of operations at Delta Air Lines and the president of the country’s largest flight attendant union, testified over $ 54 billion for more than three hours at the Senate Trade Committee hearing on Wednesday afternoon Payrolls airlines took to weather the pandemic.

“Although Gary tested negative several times before the Senate Commerce Committee hearing, he tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home, showing mild symptoms and a PCR test,” a Southwest spokeswoman said in a statement. “Gary is fine and is currently resting at home. He was fully vaccinated and received the booster earlier this year. Gary’s symptoms remain mild and he is getting closer to a full recovery each day.”

Delta’s chief of operations, John Laughter, who testified at the hearing on Wednesday and sat two seats away from Kelly, tested negative on Thursday and Friday.

“He will continue to carry out tests and take other precautions if necessary,” the airline said in a statement.

American and United didn’t comment immediately.

Demand for air travel collapsed at the beginning of the pandemic but has since recovered, largely thanks to domestic leisure travel. Delta and United executives announced this week that despite the proliferation of the Omicron variant, they are preparing for a busy year-end Christmas season.

Doug Parker, CEO of American Airlines, Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines, Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, John Laughter, executive vice president of Delta Air Lines, and Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, say before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 15, 2021.

Chip Somodevilla | Swimming pool | Reuters

Senators questioned witnesses about recent flight disruptions, airline hiring problems, 5G, and vaccine mandates.