Elliott Investment Management SC 13D/A SOUTHWEST AIRLINES / Elliott Investment Management ownership change

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 13D (Amendment No. 6)*

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Southwest Airlines Co.
(Name of Issuer)

Common Stock, par value $1.00 per share
(Title of Class of Securities)

844741108
(CUSIP Number)

Elliott Investment Management L.P. 360 S. Rosemary Ave, 18th Floor West Palm Beach, FL 33401 with a copy to: Eleazer Klein, Esq. Adriana Schwartz, Esq. Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP 919 Third Avenue New York, New York 10022 (212) 756-2000
(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person
Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)

October 28, 2024
(Date of Event Which Requires Filing of This Statement)

If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition that is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of Rule 13d-1(e), Rule 13d-1(f) or Rule 13d-1(g), check the following box. ¨

(Page 1 of 6 Pages)

______________________________

* The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person’s initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter disclosures provided in a prior cover page.

The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).

CUSIP No. 844741108

Schedule 13D/A

Page 2 of 6 Pages

1	NAME OF REPORTING PERSON Elliott Investment Management L.P.
2	CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP		(a) ☒ (b) ¨
3	SEC USE ONLY
4	SOURCE OF FUNDS OO
5	CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDING IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e)		¨
6	CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Delaware
NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON WITH:	7	SOLE VOTING POWER 59,666,500
	8	SHARED VOTING POWER -0-
	9	SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER 59,666,500
	10	SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER -0-
11	AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH PERSON 59,666,500
12	CHECK IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES			¨
13	PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11) 9.95%
14	TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON PN, IA

CUSIP No. 844741108

Schedule 13D/A

Page 3 of 6 Pages

The following constitutes Amendment No. 6 to the Schedule 13D (“Amendment No. 6”). This Amendment No. 6 amends the Schedule 13D as specifically set forth herein.

Item 3.	SOURCE AND AMOUNT OF FUNDS OR OTHER CONSIDERATION

Item 3 of the Schedule 13D is hereby amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:

The aggregate cost of the shares of Common Stock directly held by the Elliott Funds is approximately $1,562,486,000.

The Reporting Person may effect purchases of the shares of Common Stock through margin accounts maintained for the Elliott Funds with prime brokers, which extend margin credit as and when required to open or carry positions in their margin accounts, subject to applicable federal margin regulations, stock exchange rules and such firms’ credit policies. Positions in the shares of Common Stock may be held in margin accounts and may be pledged as collateral security for the repayment of debit balances in such accounts. Since other securities may be held in such margin accounts, it may not be possible to determine the amounts, if any, of margin used to purchase the shares of Common Stock.

Item 4.	PURPOSE OF TRANSACTION

Item 4 of the Schedule 13D is hereby amended and supplemented to add the following:

The Reporting Person increased and restructured the Elliott Funds’ exposure to the Issuer as a result of its belief that the Issuer’s revitalized board, governance improvements and strategic changes thus far can position the Issuer to create long-term shareholder value.

Item 5.	INTEREST IN SECURITIES OF THE ISSUER

Items 5(a)-(c) of the Schedule 13D are hereby amended and restated to read as follows:

(a) See rows (11) and (13) of the cover page to this Schedule 13D for the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock and percentage of shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by the Reporting Person. The aggregate percentage of shares of Common Stock reported beneficially owned by the Reporting Person is based upon 599,737,219 shares of Common Stock outstanding as of October 24, 2024, as disclosed in the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2024, filed by the Issuer with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 28, 2024.

(b) See rows (7) through (10) of the cover page to this Schedule 13D for the shares of Common Stock as to which the Reporting Person has the sole or shared power to vote or direct the vote and sole or shared power to dispose or to direct the disposition.

(c) The transactions in the shares of Common Stock effected by the Reporting Person since the filing of Amendment No. 5, which were all in the open market, are set forth on Schedule 1 attached hereto.

CUSIP No. 844741108

Schedule 13D/A

Page 4 of 6 Pages

Item 6.	CONTRACTS, ARRANGEMENTS, UNDERSTANDINGS OR RELATIONSHIPS WITH RESPECT TO SECURITIES OF THE ISSUER

The second and third paragraphs of Item 6 of the Schedule 13D are hereby amended and restated to read as follows:

The Elliott Funds have entered into notional principal amount derivative agreements (the “Cash Derivative Agreements”) in the form of cash settled swaps with respect to an aggregate of 8,104,000 shares of Common Stock of the Issuer (collectively representing economic exposure comparable to 1.4% of the shares of Common Stock of the Issuer). The Cash Derivative Agreements provide the Elliott Funds with economic results that are comparable to the economic results of ownership but do not provide them or EIM with the power to vote or direct the voting or dispose of or direct the disposition of the shares that are referenced in the Cash Derivative Agreements (such shares, the “Subject Shares”). EIM disclaims beneficial ownership in the Subject Shares. The counterparties to the Cash Derivative Agreements are unaffiliated third-party financial institutions.

EIM has combined economic exposure in the Issuer of approximately 11.3% of the shares of Common Stock outstanding.

CUSIP No. 844741108

Schedule 13D/A

Page 5 of 6 Pages

SIGNATURES

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of its knowledge and belief, the undersigned certifies that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

DATE: October 30, 2024

Elliott Investment Management L.P.

/s/ Elliot Greenberg
Name: Elliot Greenberg
Title: Vice President

CUSIP No. 844741108

Schedule 13D/A

Page 6 of 6 Pages

SCHEDULE 1

Transactions in the Shares of Common Stock of the Issuer

The following table sets forth all transactions in the shares of Common Stock reported herein effected by the Reporting Person since the filing of Amendment No. 5. Except as noted below, all such transactions were effected by the Reporting Person in the open market through brokers and the price per share excludes commissions. Where a price range is provided in the column titled “Price Range ($)”, the price reported in the column titled “Price Per Share ($)” is a weighted average price. These shares of Common Stock were sold or purchased in multiple transactions at prices between the price ranges indicated in the column titled “Price Range ($)”. The Reporting Person will undertake to provide to the staff of the SEC, upon request, full information regarding the shares of Common Stock sold or purchased at each separate price.

Trade Date	Shares Purchased (Sold)	Price Per Share ($)	Price Range ($)
10/28/2024	(1,450,000)	29.90	29.46 – 30.30

Elliott Investment Management SC 13D/ASOUTHWEST AIRLINES / Elliott Investment Management ownership change