Southwest Airlines’ No. 2 executive is stepping down at the end of the year and giving up his role as president and chief operating officer.
Mike Van de Ven, who became president a year ago and helped guide the company through a leadership transition, will take on an advisory role in 2023.
A 29-year Southwest veteran, Van de Ven has been at the center of many of the company’s pandemic recovery efforts since last September and even before that as chief operating officer. The company has struggled with uneven operating performance for a year and a half, landing only 73.1% of flights on time in 2022 through July.
