Southwest Airlines CEO gets 24 percent boost in compensation

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines Co. earned a record profit last year and the CEO benefited with a 24 percent increase in compensation, to $5 million.

Southwest detailed 2014 compensation for Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly in a regulatory filing today.

The bulk of Kelly's compensation came in stock awards, which the Dallas-based airline valued at $3 million when they were issued, up from $2.25 million in 2013. Kelly was paid a salary of $675,000 — unchanged from the previous two years — a bonus of $224,775 and incentive pay of $904,770.

Kelly also got $174,793 in other compensation including company contributions to retirement and profit-sharing plans, and $23,561 in above-market earnings on deferred compensation.

Southwest is the fourth-biggest U.S. airline company by passenger traffic. Last year it earned record net income of $1.14 billion on rising traffic and average fares and falling jet fuel costs.

Shareholders profited as the company's stock soared 125 percent last year, the largest increase among the nine biggest U.S. airline companies.