Southwest CEO’s bonus rises despite holiday meltdown

Southwest CEO’s bonus rises despite holiday meltdown

Aviation















BLOOMBERG

Southwest Airlines Co, which promised to cut bonus payments after a late-December meltdown in flight operations, boosted short-term incentive pay for its chief executive officer and chief operations officer.

CEO Bob Jordan’s bonus for 2022 rose 89% to $195,720, according to a regulatory filing by the Dallas-based airline. He received more than $5.3 million in total compensation last year, up from about $3 million in 2021 when he served as executive vice president. Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson also received a higher bonus, but lower total compensation. The bonus hikes come after the airline in February pledged a hair cut in incentive pay for senior management after holiday chaos that affected more than 2 million travellers.

A company representative defended the bonus payments, which were made in March. “For both Bob and Andrew, those increases were just to account for the additional responsibility” linked to job promotions in the year, said spokesman Chris Mainz.

Compensation, including salary, stock awards and other benefits, declined for the carrier’s other top executives. Southwest said overall short-term cash bonuses tied to company and personal performance paid out at 69.9% of original targets