Southwest Airlines Announces New Executive Vice President of Aircraft Operationstitle
DALLAS, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV)
today announces Mike Van de Ven as the new Executive Vice President of
Aircraft Operations. In his new position, Van de Ven will oversee Dispatch,
Flight Operations, Maintenance, Safety and Security, and Schedule Planning.
Van de Ven is a member of Southwests Executive Planning Committee and has
been instrumental in spearheading Southwests codeshare agreement with ATA
Airlines. Van de Ven replaces Jim Wimberly who plans to retire at the end of
the year.
"In the last 12 years, Mike has been intimately involved with our
operating departments, both from an internal audit and a planning
perspective," said Gary Kelly, Southwests Chief Executive Officer. "Mike is
a great Leader and brings a wealth of knowledge, skill, and energy to his new
position."
Van de Ven earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the
University of Texas and also is a Certified Public Accountant. Van de Ven
joined the Southwest family in 1993 and most recently held the position of
Southwests Senior Vice President of Planning. He has held several other
positions at the Company including Vice President Financial Planning and
Analysis, Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, Director of
Financial Planning, and Director of Internal Audit. Prior to joining the
Southwest family, Van de Ven was a Senior Audit Manager at Ernst and Young in
Dallas.
"To me, Leadership is having a passion about the mission needing to be
accomplished and instilling that passion in your team by working with them,
side by side, and supporting them in any way necessary," said Van de Ven. "I
hope to represent the team as effectively as possible and work with them to
carry on their tradition of success in the years to come."
Southwest Airlines, the nations largest carrier in terms of domestic
passengers enplaned, currently serves 61 cities in 31 states. Based in
Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 2,900 flights a day and has
31,000+ Employees systemwide.
http://www.southwest.com
