Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (WN) is one of the most popular and largest low-cost airlines in the world and is headed by CEO Bob Jordan. The American LCC has earned a good reputation for a number of reasons, not least for having a fleet exclusive to over 800 Boeing 737 aircraft and 500 more on order.
They are even the world’s third largest operator based on passengers ferried and with low fares as well as incredibly good connectivity around the United States and elsewhere in North America, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan deserves the plaudits for his good work.
Bob Jordan President, Chief Executive Officer, & Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors | Photo: Bob Jordan LinkedIn ProfileWho is Bob Jordan?
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan is one of the most sought-after names in the American aviation industry. The Texas A&M University graduate began his career at Hewlett-Packard in the late 1980s as a programs engineer and subsequently took up a role with the airline in 1988.
He is about to enter the 37th year of his career at Southwest Airlines and has occupied a plethora of roles with the company before being elevated to the CEO’s position in 2022. As per the airline’s official website, he held 15 positions at WN in their finance, planning, procurement, fuel, facilities, technology, and corporate strategy departments.
For a brief period in 2011, Jordan was even the president of AirTran Airways, a carrier that Southwest acquired and amalgamated with itself. He has received credit for a majority of things that the carrier has done whilst also being a popular figure amongst their most loyal customers for being an individual who has their best interests in mind.
Some of Jordan’s biggest achievements at Southwest include the revamping of their loyalty program, implementing an efficient boarding process that reduced turnaround times, a new reservations system, and other ad-hoc services like the EarlyBird check-in, Business Select, and Priority Boarding.
Also Read: United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby Salary and Compensation
Bob Jordan President, Chief Executive Officer, & Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors | Photo: Bob Jordan LinkedIn ProfileSouthwest CEO Bob Jordan Salary
In his first year as the Southwest CEO, Bob Jordan received compensation that was 75% greater than his previous earnings. To put things into numbers, Jordan’s salary was $5.3 million for 2022-23, $200,000 greater than his predecessor yet an amount that raised eyebrows due to the airline’s extremely financially distressing scheduling crisis in December 2022.
Southwest’s operations were severely disrupted between 21st December and 30th December 2022, owing to a lapse in the airline’s planning system. This led to the cancellation of more than 15,000 flights across the country and caused Southwest losses of approximately $1.2 billion, of which $600 million was in compensation to passengers and $140 million in fines to the US Department of Transportation.
The strict consumer protection laws in the US meant that alternative arrangements for passengers as well as salaries to staff despite the airline not functioning for over a week resulted in even more dollars being lost.
In 2023-24, Jordan’s salary nearly doubled as he earned $9.3 million in his overall pay packet. $700,000 was his base salary, $4.1 million was in stock awards, $4 million was part of incentive-related bonuses and the remaining half a million dollars were part of ancillary expenses.
Also Check Out: American Airlines CEO Robert Isom Salary and Compensation
Photo: Ted Christie LinkedInOther LCC CEO Salaries in the US
It would be unfair to compare the salaries of the CEOs of American (AA), Delta (DL), and United (UA) to that of Southwest’s Bob Jordan given that the big three are all full-service carriers and fly to several other destinations around the world, whilst having separate regional arms too.
So here goes the breakdown for Southwest’s more realistic competitors.
- JetBlue (B6) employed a new CEO this year, though former chief Robin Hayes pocketed $10.8 million for 2023-24 – which is said to be his highest amount from an eight-year tenure.
- Spirit Airlines (NK) was in talks to be acquired by JetBlue and recently even filed for bankruptcy so expectedly, their CEO Ted Christie took home relatively less – $3.87 million.
Bob Jordan President, Chief Executive Officer, & Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors | Photo: Bob Jordan LinkedIn ProfileHow has Bob Jordan made Southwest’s operating model different?
Bob Jordan has a veteran status at Southwest not just for the number of years he has spent with the airline but also owing to the fact that he has overseen a massive transformation of sorts.
Today, WN has over 65,000 employees and will soon own and operate 1,000 aircraft from 12 bases across the United States. They operate over 4,000 daily flights in the peak seasons and provide passengers with seamless connectivity across the country.
The airline operates a fully no-frills model, so passengers cannot pre-book seats and are not served meals free of charge but in a very convenient twist, they are offered free checked-in luggage which ends up enticing more customers than a lot of full-service competitors too.
Lastly, they can keep ticket costs low as their key operational costs like parking fees and landing slots are also relatively inexpensive, given that the majority of their operations are carried out from a city’s secondary airport.
The airline ensures that it has a low-cost and low-profit per flight model, though, with the sheer number of airplanes and flights, it manages to reach a significant amount of overall profitability that ensures its CEO and other employees are some of the best-paid in the industry.
Feature Image by Clément Alloing | Flickr
Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.
Join us on Telegram Group for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News
Delta CEO Ed Bastian Salary and Compensation
The post Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan Salary and Compensation in 2024 appeared first on Aviation A2Z.
