Elliott is taking a $1.9 billion stake in Southwest Airlines and wants to oust its CEO and chairman

Activist hedge fund Elliott Management has amassed a $1.9 billion stake Southwest Airlines and plans to push for management changes at the airline, which has lagged behind huge rivals.

This stake makes Elliott one of Southwest’s largest shareholders, according to FactSet. Southwest shares rose 7% in pre-market trading on Monday.

As of Friday’s close, the company’s market capitalization was $16.6 billion.

Southwest struggled with delays at Boeing recent 737 Max aircraft, the latest models of aircraft the carrier flies exclusively, and changing demand patterns for post-pandemic travel.

Airline leaders are now looking for recent ways to raise revenue to better compete with rivals that offer more benefits and products to travelers. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan, who took the helm in February 2022 after decades with the airline, told CNBC in April that the carrier was considering eliminating its single-class seating and long-term boarding method.

The airline also faced a reckoning after a delayed 2022 holiday crash that cost it more than $1 billion and forced the airline long known for mighty customer service to woo passengers and make quick fixes to its internal staff scheduling software.

Southwest’s shares are down more than 50% from three years ago, when demand for travel, mostly domestic trips, began to return. In contrast, Delta Airlines the company’s shares increased by approximately 10% during this period. United Airlines decreased by approximately 7%.

Elliott’s campaigns at other companies have also focused on leadership change. Elliott’s second campaign at Crown Castle in 2022 and a settlement agreement with a car parts supplier Sensata earlier this year there were only two cases.

In just a few months, the activist acquired shares worth $2.5 billion in a semiconductor company Texas Instrumentsa $2 billion stake in the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and $1 billion in shares in a mining concern Anglo-American.