Jordan announced to take his place at that time. He will remain as Executive Chairman of the board until at least 2026. On December 15, 2021, Kelly testified against mask mandates on airplanes at a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing while sitting unmasked next to other unmasked senior airline executives opposed to mask mandates; two days later he tested positive for COVID-19. Awards and recognition Kelly was named one of the best CEOs in America for 2008, 2009 and 2010 by Institutional Investor magazine and serves on the President's Council of Jobs and Competitiveness. In 2014, Kelly received the Advertising Innovation and Marketing Excellence (AIME) Award. Kelly was the 2016 recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for distinguished achievement in commercial air transportation. In 2017, Fortune named Kelly the #3 most underrated CEO in America (after Satya Nadella and Jeff Bezos) based on a survey of Fortune 500 CEOs asking them which of their fellow CEOs do not get enough credit. Kelly received 85 votes. On February 18, 2020, Gary Kelly was named as the recipient of the 2020 Philanthropic Leadership Award from The Ireland Funds. On October 25, 2021, Gary Kelly was the recipient of the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from 3BL Media. References External links Gary C. Kelly's executive profile CEO of the Year (Again!): Gary Kelly of Southwest Airlines Nuts About Southwest Blog Gary C. Kelly Shares His Views on Leadership (Video) Gary C. Kelly on Becoming CEO of Southwest Airlines (Video) Gary C. Kelly Describes A Story of Caring (Video) Southwest Airlines Employee Testimonials (Video) American airline chief executives Living people 1955 births McCombs School of Business alumni Southwest Airlines people American chief financial officers