CHICAGO, Aug 19 Reuters Southwest Airlines is girding itself for a fight with Elliott Investment Management, rallying support from investors and employees to face down an activist investor looking for wholesale changes to company leadership.

In recent weeks, CEO Bob Jordan has been meeting and gathering feedback from investors to stave off Elliott39;s advances  casting the investment firm39;s approach as predatory. For its part, the hedge fund has cited the underperformance of Southwest39;s stock and the Dallasbased airline39;s rigid commitment to a decadesold approach as reasons to revamp the board and executive suite.

Don39;t be fooled this is a battle for the heart of our company and our future your future, Jordan wrote on Wednesday in a staff memo, seen by Reuters.

Southwest has built a reputation through its 53yearhistory as a lowcost darling of many American travelers, inspiring case studies at business schools. Similarly, Elliott is known as a formidable negotiator, capable of extracting concessions and pushing out CEOs at companies such as Starbucks after amassing a heavy stake.

Elliott has made no secret of its goals. It wants to oust both Jordan and Southwest39;s board chair Gary Kelly, blaming them for the airline39;s financial results, to replace twothirds of the board39;s 15 directors and to change the way the company has been running its business in order to make it compete better in the modern airline industry.

The hedge fund does not have a track…