It’s been a rewarding
12 months for the state’s largest airline.
And one day before Hawaiian Airlines’ pilots were due to receive a big pay raise as part of a 42 percent increase in their overall package, the company reported Friday that President and CEO Mark Dunkerley’s total compensation jumped nearly 14 percent last year to $3.7 million.
Dunkerley, 53, was the fourth-highest-paid CEO of a publicly traded company in the state in 2016 behind Bank of Hawaii’s Peter Ho ($5 million), First Hawaiian Bank’s Bob Harrison ($4.3 million) and Matson’s Matt Cox
($4.1 million), and just ahead of Hawaiian Electric Industries’ Connie Lau ($3.1 million)
Hawaiian is coming off of a record-breaking year on several fronts.
The airline’s 2016 adjusted net income of $280 million, which excludes fuel-hedging and one-time items, was a
record for the company.
Hawaiian also flew a record 11.1 million passengers, achieved a record $50 million in Extra Comfort and Preferred Seat sales, and led the nation’s top carriers in on-time performance for the 13th consecutive year.
The airline increased its exposure in Japan by landing a second route from Haneda International Airport in Tokyo that is now being split between Kona (thrice weekly) and Honolulu (four times a week). And the company’s stock, which traded as low as 30 cents in June 2003 during its bankruptcy, soared 61 percent last year to $57 a share — the best performance of any Hawaii-
based company. Hawaiian shares closed Friday at $46.45, down 18.5 percent year-to-date.
Last year Dunkerley got a salary of $721,686, stock awards worth just over
$2 million, $957,181 in nonequity incentive plan compensation and $46,716 in “all other compensation,” which included company contributions to his 401(k) savings account, a car allowance, paid insurance premiums and reimbursement of taxes related to flight benefits.
Dunkerley received a pay package worth $3.3 million in 2015.
All of Hawaiian’s top executives received raises, according to the company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Chief Financial Officer Shannon Okinaka, 42, saw her total compensation increase 17.4 percent to
$1.3 million from $1.1 million. Chief Administrative Officer Ron Anderson-Lehman, 53, had his pay package rise
16.4 percent to $1.3 million from $1.1 million. And Chief Commercial Officer Peter
Ingram, 50, saw his total compensation increase
16.7 percent to $1.5 million from $1.3 million.
On March 24, Hawaiian pilots ratified a 63-month contract that goes into effect today. The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents the company’s 670 pilots, said the total value of the contract is $1.2 billion and that overall salary increases by the end of the contract term on July 1, 2022, will range from 36 to 86 percent. Depending on the airplane type, pilots will receive raises today from 20 to 45 percent.
The most experienced captain (at least 12 years’ experience) flying the company’s largest aircraft, the Airbus A330, will see his or her hourly rate increase to $337.75 an hour by April 2022 from the $207.13 an hour it was before today. In April 2022 that would represent a full-year salary of $303,975 to $364,770 for a pilot flying the typical 75 to 90 hours a month. That’s up from the previous full-year range of $186,417 to $223,700.
Hawaiian is still in negotiations with the Association of Flight Attendants, whose contract became amendable in January. The airline reached new contracts last year with unions representing the company’s mechanics, clerical workers and dispatchers.