Tom Doxey on credit rating
From LUV Stock | Southwest Airlines Co. Q1 2026 Earnings Call · · AlphaStreet
“The investment grade rating for us is a differentiator. There are only three airlines in the world that have an investment grade rating. And so, as we look at the activities that we do, just know that that along with the guard rails that I referenced earlier are a filter that we use to evaluate different opportunities or different decisions that we make within the business.”
On , Tom Doxey, Executive VP & CFO at Southwest Airlines, spoke about credit rating during LUV Stock | Southwest Airlines Co. Q1 2026 Earnings Call on AlphaStreet.
About Tom Doxey
Tom Doxey, Executive Vice President and CFO of Southwest Airlines, participated in the company’s Q2, Q3 2025, and Q1 2026 earnings calls. During these calls, he discussed the company’s financial strategy and performance. Doxey stated that the company entered into a $500 million secured term loan facility to pay down the final portion of its payroll support program loans. He noted that Southwest ended Q1 2026 with $4.88 billion in liquidity and a leverage ratio of 2.2 times. Doxey described the company’s investment grade rating as a “differentiator,” stating that only three airlines in the world hold such a rating, and said it serves as a filter for evaluating business decisions. Doxey also addressed the company’s capital allocation and cost initiatives. He reported that Southwest returned capital to shareholders through $1.25 billion in share repurchases and $93 million in dividends during Q1 2026, with $450 million remaining in the current repurchase authorization. On the Q3 2025 call, Doxey said the company expected to deliver more than $1 billion of incremental EBIT from assigned and extra legroom seating in 2026, reaching a full run rate of approximately $1.5 billion in 2027. He also noted that checked bag fees were estimated to result in more than $350 million of EBIT for the full year 2025, with a run rate of approximately $1 billion had it been in place for the full year. Doxey stated that the company had identified additional cost-saving opportunities and remained confident in its full-year EBIT guidance range of $600 to $800 million.