Southwest Airlines Is Defying the Odds in Elliott’s Activist Overhaul

In a tale of two activist airline deals, one is treading water while the other is outperforming the broader market solidly.The names involved — Icahn Enterprises and Elliott Investment Management — aren’t new to airlines. In fact, they crossed paths in the 1990s when Carl Icahn’s debt-laden purchase of Trans World Airlines nose-dived into default, enticing Elliott to swoop in as a distressed-debt investor.