Southwest Airlines President to Retire at End of Year

Southwest Airlines said that its president and COO, Mike Van de Ven, will retire from both positions by the end of the year, following 30 years at the carrier.

Mr. Van de Ven will step down as COO at the end of September and as president at the end of December. He will, however, become an advisor to the company at the start of the coming year.

Southwest’s CEO, Bob Jordan, will assume the additional role of president that is being vacated by Mr. Van de Ven on the first of the year.

Over his 16 years as chief of operations and, later, chief operating officer, Mr. Van de Ven helped “usher in a new era for Southwest Airlines through a series of major initiatives, including modernizing our fleet, achieving ETOPS certification, and allowing us to expand our footprint to Hawaii,” Mr. Jordan said in a statement.

The Dallas-based carrier is also making several other leadership changes including the promotion of Andrew Waterson, currently the chief commercial officer, to the position of chief operating officer, and Linda Rutherford, who currently serves as chief people officer, to the position of chief administrative and communications officer.

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