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Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is putting recently retired U.S. Senator Roy Blunt on its board of directors, only months after the former politician joined a high-powered D.C. lobbying firm.
Blunt, 73, spent 12 years in the U.S. Senate after 14 years as a Republican from Missouri, including time on the Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation.
In April, only four months after leaving the U.S. Senate, Blunt took a job as the chairman of the Leadership Strategies Advisory Services Group in the Washington, D.C., office of Husch Blackwell Strategies, a government affairs advisory firm.
Southwest has spent about $330,000 this year on lobbying in D.C. on issues including the FAA reauthorization act, aircraft operations, maintenance, safety and family seating proposals, according to Opensecrets.org. The company spent $1.1 million on federal government lobbying in 2022.
Blunt took his spot on the board on July 16.
Regular board members at Southwest are paid between $237,000 and $325,000, according to financial and regulatory filings.
Southwest now has 15 members on its board of directors. The company added two healthcare industry professionals, Eduardo Conrado and Elaine Mendoza, to the board in April to succeed board members John Denison and Nancy Loeffler, who were stepping down at the end of their terms.
Blunt has also been recognized for his work in aviation, and the city of Springfield, Mo., renamed the terminal at the Springfield-Branson National Airport after him. He received his bachelor’s degree from Southwest Baptist University and a master’s degree from Missouri State University.
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