Southwest CEO plays down buyout talk-CNBC

NEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV.N) Chief Executive Gary Kelly played down talk that the airline was a leveraged buyout candidate in an interview on CNBC on Thursday.

"I don't think it makes any sense to leverage $9 billion of additional debt on an airline like Southwest," he said in an interview on the financial news channel after releasing first-quarter earnings.

"It (a buyout) would have to be done in a way that it preserves the special and unique culture that we have at Southwest Airlines and I doubt that it could," he said.

Southwest shares rose sharply on Wednesday after Roger King, an analyst with CreditSights, said in a report that a $15 billion Southwest leveraged buyout was a "no-brainer".