EXHIBIT 10.17
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
THIS EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT (hereinafter referred to as this "Agreement"),
dated as of June 19, 2001, by and between XXXXXXX X. XXXXXXX (hereinafter
referred to as the "Employee"), a resident of Dallas, Texas, and SOUTHWEST
AIRLINES CO. (hereinafter referred to as "Southwest", which term shall include
its subsidiary companies where the context so admits), a Texas corporation,
WITNESSETH:
WHEREAS the Employee has served Southwest since March 1978 in various
executive capacities, most recently as Executive Vice President-Customers and
Corporate Secretary; and
WHEREAS the Employee and Southwest desire to enter into an agreement
for the continuing full-time services of the Employee;
NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the premises and the mutual
covenants and promises contained herein, Southwest and the Employee agree as
follows:
I. POSITION, DUTIES AND AUTHORITY
A. POSITIONS, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. The Employee shall serve as
President and Chief Operating Officer of Southwest, and, for so long as
she shall be elected to the Board of Directors of Southwest, she shall
serve as a member of the Board without additional compensation
hereunder. Further, she shall continue to serve as Corporate Secretary
of Southwest, without additional compensation hereunder, until such
time as the Board of Directors elects otherwise. The Employee's duties
and responsibilities as President and Chief Operating Officer shall
include managing the day to day operations of Southwest; planning the
future course of such operations; achieving excellent Customer and
employee service quality; preserving the Southwest servant leader
culture; assisting the Chief
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Executive Officer in implementing Southwest's current and long range
business policies and programs; and, in general, maintaining employee
morale and esprit de corps. In addition, she shall perform such other
corporate duties and discharge such other corporate responsibilities as
are specified in the bylaws of Southwest or are designated from time to
time by any of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Southwest, the
Chief Executive Officer or the full Board of Directors.
B. AUTHORITY. The Employee shall be vested with all authority reasonably
necessary to carry out her duties and responsibilities as set forth in
this Article I.
C. NECESSARY SUPPORT AND ENVIRONMENT. The Employee shall be provided with
the secretarial and other support personnel (including a full-time
administrative assistant) and general working environment (including a
private, furnished office) reasonably necessary for her to carry out
her duties and responsibilities as set forth in this Article I.
II. EMPLOYEE'S OBLIGATIONS
A. TIME AND EFFORT. During the term of her employment hereunder, the
Employee shall devote such time and effort as is required to perform
her duties and to discharge her responsibilities hereunder. The
Employee shall generally conform with all policies of Southwest as they
apply to a person of her level of duties and responsibilities.
B. NON-COMPETITION. The Employee recognizes and understands that in
performing the duties and responsibilities of her employment as
outlined in this Agreement and pursuant to her employment at Southwest
prior to the execution of this Agreement, the Employee has occupied and
will occupy a position of trust and confidence, pursuant to which the
Employee has developed and acquired and will develop and acquire
experience and knowledge with respect to various aspects of the
business of Southwest and the manner in which such
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business is conducted. It is the expressed intent and agreement of the
Employee and Southwest that such knowledge and experience shall be used
in the furtherance of the business interests of Southwest and not in
any manner which would be detrimental to such business interests of
Southwest. The Employee therefore agrees that, so long as the Employee
is employed pursuant to this Agreement, unless she first secures the
consent of the Board of Directors of Southwest, the Employee will not
invest, engage or participate in any manner whatsoever, either
personally or in any status or capacity (other than as a shareholder of
less than one percent [1%] of the capital stock of a publicly owned
corporation), in any business or other entity organized for profit
engaged in significant competition with Southwest in the conduct of its
air carrier operations anywhere in the States of Texas, Louisiana,
Oklahoma, New Mexico, Missouri, Arizona, Nevada, California, Arkansas,
Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland,
Illinois, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Nebraska, Florida, Idaho,
Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, North
Carolina and Virginia. Although the Employee and Southwest regard such
restrictions as reasonable for the purpose of preserving Southwest and
its proprietary rights, in the event that the provisions of this
Paragraph II-B should ever be deemed to exceed the time or geographic
limitations permitted by applicable laws, then such provisions shall be
reformed to the maximum time or geographic limitations permitted by
applicable laws.
III. TERM
A. TERM. This Agreement and the Employee's employment hereunder shall
commence and become effective on and as of June 19, 2001. The term of
such employment shall expire on
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June 19, 2004, unless extended by consent of the parties hereto or
earlier terminated pursuant to the provisions of Article V.
IV. EMPLOYEE'S COMPENSATION
A. BASE SALARY. The Employee's annual Base Salary for the year ending June
19, 2002 which originally was to be the amount of $309,000 shall, in
accordance with Employee's irrevocable agreement to terminate payment
of Employee's salary for the period October 1, 2001 through December
31, 2001, be $231,750, payable in 18 equal semi-monthly installments of
$12,875 commencing with Southwest's second regular payroll date in
June, 2001 and continuing through Southwest's first regular payroll
date in October, 2001, at which point such semi-monthly installments
shall temporarily cease (it being understood and agreed that no Base
Salary shall be due or payable to Employee with respect to the period
commencing October 1, 2001 and continuing through and including
December 31, 2001); with such semi-monthly installments of $12,875 to
recommence with Southwest's first regular payroll date in January, 2002
and continuing through and including Southwest's second regular payroll
date in June, 2002. The Employee's annual Base Salary for the years
ending June 19, 2003 and 2004 shall be $321,360 and $334,215,
respectively. The Employee's Base Salary for the years ending July 19,
2003 and July 19, 2004 shall be payable to the Employee in equal
semi-monthly installments. The Employee's Base Salary installment
payments shall be subject to such payroll and withholding deductions as
may be required by law.
B. PERFORMANCE BONUS. The Board of Directors of Southwest (or the
Compensation Committee thereof) may grant a Performance Bonus to the
Employee, in addition to her Base Salary, at such times and in such
amounts as such Board (or Committee) may determine.
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C. DEFERRED COMPENSATION. In addition to the Base Salary provided for in
Paragraph IV-A above, Southwest shall set aside on its books a special
ledger Deferred Compensation Account (the "Account") for the Employee,
and shall credit thereto Deferred Compensation determined as
hereinafter provided. (Southwest at its election may fund the payment
of Deferred Compensation by setting aside and investing such funds as
Southwest may from time to time determine. Neither the establishment of
the Account, the crediting of Deferred Compensation thereto, nor the
setting aside of any funds shall be deemed to create a trust. Legal and
equitable title to any funds set aside shall remain in Southwest, and
the Employee shall have no security or other interest in such funds.
Any funds so set aside or invested shall remain subject to the claims
of the creditors of Southwest, present and future.) For each full or
partial calendar year as the Employee shall remain in the employment of
Southwest under this Agreement, Deferred Compensation shall accumulate
in an amount equal to any contributions (including forfeitures but
excluding any elective deferrals actually returned to the Employee)
which would otherwise have been made by Southwest on behalf of the
Employee to the Southwest Airlines Co. Money Purchase Plan but which
exceed maximum annual additions under such Plan on her behalf under
federal tax law. If such employment shall terminate prior to December
31 in any calendar year, then Deferred Compensation shall accumulate
and be calculated as provided under the terms of Southwest's Money
Purchase Plan. The Deferred Compensation credited to the Account
(including the Interest hereinafter provided) shall be paid to the
Employee (or to the executors or administrators of her estate) at the
rate of $100,000 per calendar year (subject to such payroll and
withholding deductions as may be required by law), commencing with the
calendar year following the year in which (i) the Employee shall become
sixty-five (65)
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or (ii) the Employee's employment with Southwest shall terminate
(whether such termination is under this Agreement or otherwise and
whether it is before, on or after the expiration of the initial term
set forth in Paragraph III-A above, and irrespective of the cause
thereof), whichever shall occur later, and continuing until the entire
amount of Deferred Compensation and Interest credited to the Account
shall have been paid. Although the total amount of Deferred
Compensation ultimately payable to the Employee hereunder shall be
computed in accordance with the provisions set forth above, there shall
be accrued and credited to the Account, beginning on January 1, 2002
and continuing annually thereafter, amounts equal to simple interest at
the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum, compounded annually
("Interest"), on the accrued and unpaid balance of the Deferred
Compensation credited to the Account as of the preceding December 31.
The Deferred Compensation and Interest to be paid in any one calendar
year shall be paid on the first business day of such calendar year.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of the Employee's death,
Southwest, in its sole discretion, shall have the right to pay the
unpaid balance of the Deferred Compensation (together with any accrued
Interest thereon) to the executors or administrators of the Employee's
estate in cash in one lump sum on the first business day of the
calendar year next following the calendar year in which the Employee
shall have died. No right, title, interest or benefit under this
Paragraph IV-C shall ever be liable for or charged with any of the
torts or obligations of the Employee or any person claiming under her,
or be subject to seizure by any creditor of the Employee or any person
claiming under her. Neither the Employee nor any person claiming under
her shall have the power to anticipate or dispose of any right, title,
interest or benefit under this Paragraph IV-C in any manner until the
same shall have been actually distributed by Southwest.
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D. DISABILITY INSURANCE. Southwest shall provide long term disability
insurance providing for payment, in the event of disability of the
Employee, of $10,000 per month to age seventy (70). Except as to
amounts payable, the terms and conditions of such policy shall be
identical, or substantially similar, to the disability insurance
provided by Southwest for its other officers as of the date of this
Agreement.
E. MEDICAL AND DENTAL EXPENSES. During the term of this Agreement,
Southwest shall reimburse the Employee for all medical and dental
expenses incurred by the Employee and her spouse. Expenses for medical
and dental care shall be deemed to include all amounts paid with
respect to hospital bills, doctor and dental bills and drugs for which
the Employee is not compensated by insurance or otherwise.
F. STOCK OPTION GRANT. Southwest shall grant to the Employee, effective as
of the date hereof, ten-year options to purchase 150,000 shares of its
common stock at $17.11 per share pursuant to Southwest's 1996
Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan, with one-third of such options to be
exercisable immediately and one-third to become exercisable on each of
June 19, 2002 and June 19, 2003.
G. OTHER BENEFITS. The Employee shall be eligible to continue to
participate in all employee pension, profit-sharing, stock purchase,
group insurance and other benefit plans or programs in effect for
Southwest managerial employees generally to the extent of and in
accordance with the rules and agreements governing such plans or
programs, so long as same shall be in effect, with full service credit
where relevant for the Employee's prior employment by Southwest.
Southwest shall reimburse the Employee for reasonable expenses incurred
by her in the performance of her duties and responsibilities hereunder.
The Employee shall be entitled to vacation of three (3) weeks per year
or such longer period
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as may be established from time to time by Southwest for its managerial
employees generally.
V. TERMINATION PROVISIONS
A. EXPIRATION OR DEATH. The Employee's employment hereunder shall
terminate on June 19, 2004 (or such later date to which the term of
this Agreement may be extended by consent of the parties hereto, in
either case without prejudice to the Employee's privilege to remain an
employee of Southwest thereafter), or upon the Employee's death,
whichever shall first occur, without further obligation or liability of
either party hereunder, except for Southwest's obligation to pay
Deferred Compensation as provided in Paragraph IV-C of this Agreement.
B. TERMINATION FOR CAUSE. Southwest may terminate the Employee's
employment hereunder upon the determination by a majority of its whole
Board of Directors that the Employee has willfully failed and refused
to perform her duties and to discharge her responsibilities hereunder.
Such determination shall be final and conclusive. If the Board of
Directors of Southwest makes such determination, Southwest may (a)
terminate the Employee's employment, effective immediately or at a
subsequent date, or (b) condition her continued employment upon the
circumstances and place a reasonable limitation upon the time within
which the Employee shall comply with such considerations or
requirements. If termination is so effected, Southwest shall have no
further liability to the Employee hereunder except for the obligation
to pay Deferred Compensation as provided in Paragraph IV-C hereof.
C. TERMINATION FOR DISABILITY. Southwest may terminate the Employee's
employment hereunder on account of any disabling illness, hereby
defined to include any
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emotional or mental disorders, physical diseases or injuries as a
result of which the Employee is, for a continuous period of ninety (90)
days, unable to perform her duties and to discharge her
responsibilities hereunder on a full-time basis. Southwest shall give
to the Employee thirty (30) days' notice of its intention to effect
such termination pursuant to this Paragraph V-C. If, within such notice
period, the Employee shall have recovered from her disability
sufficiently well to resume performance of her duties and discharge of
her responsibilities on a full-time basis (although still undergoing
treatment or rehabilitation), Southwest shall not have the right to
effect such termination. If such disabling illness occurs as a result
of a job-related cause, Southwest shall continue to pay the Employee
regular installments of her Base Salary in effect at the time of such
termination for the remainder of the term of this Agreement. It is
expressly understood and agreed, however, that any obligation of
Southwest to continue to pay the Employee her Base Salary pursuant to
this Paragraph V-C shall be reduced by the amount of any proceeds of
long-term disability insurance provided for the Employee pursuant to
Paragraph IV-D above, and shall also be reduced by the amount of the
proceeds of any worker's compensation or other benefits which the
Employee receives as a result of or growing out of her disabling
illness.
D. CHANGE OF CONTROL TERMINATION. In the event of any change of control of
Southwest, the Employee may, at her option, terminate her employment
hereunder by giving to Southwest notice thereof no later than sixty
(60) days after the Employee shall have determined or ascertained that
such change has occurred, irrespective whether Southwest shall have
purported to terminate this Agreement after such event but prior to
receipt of such notice. If termination is so effected, no later than
the date of such termination Southwest shall pay the Employee as
"severance pay" a lump sum equal to (i) $750,000 plus (ii) an
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amount equal to the unpaid installments of her Base Salary in effect at
the time of such termination for the remaining term of this Agreement.
If termination is so effected, Southwest shall have no other further
liability to the Employee hereunder except for its obligation to pay
Deferred Compensation as provided in Paragraph IV-C above. For purposes
of this Paragraph V-D, a "change of control of Southwest" shall be
deemed to occur if (i) a third person, including a "group" as
determined in accordance with Section 13(d)(3) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, becomes the beneficial owner of shares of
Southwest having twenty percent (20%) or more of the total number of
votes that may be cast for the election of directors of Southwest, or
(ii) as a result of, or in connection with, any cash tender or exchange
offer, merger or other business combination, sale of assets or
contested election, or any combination of the foregoing transactions
(herein called a "Transaction"), the persons who were directors of
Southwest before the Transaction shall cease to constitute a majority
of the Board of Directors of Southwest or any successor to Southwest.
E. VOLUNTARY TERMINATION. The Employee's employment hereunder shall
terminate forthwith upon her resignation and its acceptance by
Southwest, without further obligation or liability of either party
hereunder, except for Southwest's obligation to pay Deferred
Compensation as provided in Paragraph IV-C above.
VI. MISCELLANEOUS
A. ASSIGNABILITY, ETC. The rights and obligations of Southwest hereunder
shall inure to the benefit of and shall be binding upon the successors
and assigns of Southwest; provided, however, Southwest's obligations
hereunder may not be assigned without the prior
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approval of the Employee. This Agreement is personal to the Employee
and may not be assigned by her.
B. NO WAIVERS. Failure to insist upon strict compliance with any provision
hereof shall not be deemed a waiver of such provision or any other
provision hereof.
C. AMENDMENTS. This Agreement may not be modified except by an agreement
in writing executed by the parties hereto.
D. NOTICES. Any notice required or permitted to be given under this
Agreement shall be in writing in the English language and shall be
deemed to have been given to the person affected by such notice when
personally delivered or when deposited in the United States mail,
certified mail, return receipt requested and postage prepaid, and
addressed to the party affected by such notice at the address indicated
on the signature page hereof.
E. SEVERABILITY. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision
hereof shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other
provision hereof.
F. COUNTERPARTS. This Agreement may be executed in multiple counterparts,
each of which shall be deemed an original but all of which taken
together shall constitute a single instrument.
G. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This Agreement contains all of the terms and
conditions agreed upon by the parties hereto respecting the subject
matter hereof, and all other prior agreements, oral or otherwise,
regarding the subject matter of this Agreement shall be deemed to be
superseded as of the date of this Agreement and not to bind either of
the parties hereto.
H. GOVERNING LAW. This Agreement shall be subject to and governed by the
laws of the State of Texas.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Employee has set her hand hereto and Southwest
has caused this Agreement to be signed in its corporate name and behalf by one
of its officers thereunto duly authorized, all as of the day and year first
above written.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
By: /s/ XXXXXXX X. XXXXXXXX
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Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxxx
Chairman of the Board of Directors
THE EMPLOYEE
/s/ XXXXXXX X. XXXXXXX
-------------------------------------
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
Address: X.X. Xxx 00000
Xxxxxx, Xxxxx 00000-0000
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