Hawaiian Air CEO pay package at $2.5M

Mark Dunkerley, president and chief executive of Hawaiian Airlines' parent company, earned total compensation valued at nearly $2.5 million in 2006.

However, $1.1 million of that amount was in the form of option awards actually granted in previous years, which the company had to account for in 2006. At yesterday's closing share price of $3.38, the total value of earlier options that vested in 2006 was $64,000. Dunkerley actually was not granted any new options last year.

Among his other compensation, the 43-year-old Dunkerley earned a salary of $550,000, a bonus of $787,000 and other compensation of $40,794, according to a proxy filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The $40,794 in other compensation included $28,637 contributed to Dunkerley's 401(k) account, a $12,000 car allowance and miscellaneous personal benefits of $157.

Hawaiian Holdings Inc. Chairman Larry Hershfield said Dunkerley deserved the compensation for his role in establishing Hawaiian as the top-rated airline in the nation for service quality.

"Everyone at Hawaiian deserves credit for that," Hershfield said, "but Mark and his team also gets high marks from our board for effectively managing the extraordinary competitive challenges thrown at the company this past year, while at the same time strengthening its competitive position for the future."

Hawaiian, which emerged from 26 months of bankruptcy in June 2005, lost $40.5 million in 2006 on revenue of $888 million.