Jim Parker resigned and was replaced by CFO Gary Kelly. “Personal reasons” are cited, though anyone who knows the real story please e-mail me.

I’ve been in Washington, DC long enough to know that ‘personal reasons’ are never true. Southwest remained profitable throughout Parker’s tenure, even as other carriers were losing money across the board — although Southwest’s second quarter profit was down 50% year over year.

The move seems to this outsider to come out of nowhere, begging the question: what happened?