Southwest Airlines is expected to lead the airline sector in 2005, so it's not surprising that the board of the Dallas-based company approved $1.6 million in bonuses for the company's five top executives.
Colleen Barrett, Southwest's president and secretary, received the biggest bonus, $439,000.
Gary Kelly, chief executive, received $385,000; Ron Ricks, senior vice president of public affairs, $283,000; Herb Kelleher, co-founder and chairman, $277,000; and Jim Wimberly, executive vice president of aircraft operations, $190,000.
The bonuses cap a big year for Southwest.
Highlights included an alliance with bankrupt carrier ATA Airlines, an expansion at Midway Airport in Chicago, new service to Denver and a victory in the Wright Amendment battle with approval to fly to Missouri from Dallas Love Field.
But the year ended on a difficult note, with a crash in Chicago that took the life of a 6-year-old boy when an airplane skidded off a runway and struck a car.
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