SkyWest Airlines 2010 Annual Report Download - page 160

Deferred Compensation. If an Executive had his terminated employment with the Company on
December 31, 2010, the Executive would have become entitled to receive the balance in his account
under the applicable deferred compensation plan. Distribution would be made in the form of a lump
sum or in installments, and in accordance with the distributions schedule elected by the Executive
under the applicable plan. The 2010 year-end account balances under those plans are shown in column
(e) in the applicable Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Tables set forth above. An Executive’s
account balance would continue to be credited with notational investment earnings or losses through
the date of actual distribution.
DIRECTOR COMPENSATION
The Company uses a combination of cash and stock-based incentive compensation to attract and
retain qualified candidates to serve as directors. In setting director compensation, the Company
considers the significant amount of time that directors expend in fulfilling their duties to the Company,
as well as the skill level required by the Company of its directors. Each director is encouraged to own
at least 5,000 shares of Common Stock, which had a value of approximately $78,100 as of
December 31, 2010. All of the Company’s directors own shares of Common Stock.
Cash Compensation Paid to Directors
For the year ended December 31, 2010, all directors who were not employees of the Company
received an annual cash retainer of $32,000 and attendance fees of $1,700 for each in-person Board
meeting attended, $1,600 for each in-person Audit & Finance Committee meeting attended, $1,300 for
each in-person Compensation Committee meeting attended and $1,300 for each in-person Nominating
and Corporate Governance Committee meeting attended. Non-employee directors who participated in
telephonic meetings of the Board or its committees were also paid $850 for each telephonic Board
meeting, $800 for each telephonic Audit & Finance Committee meeting, $750 for each telephonic
Compensation Committee meeting and $750 for each telephonic Nominating and Corporate
Governance Committee meeting. The Chairman of the Audit & Finance Committee was paid an
annual fee of $15,000, the Chairman of the Compensation Committee was paid an annual fee of
$5,000, the Chairman of Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee was paid an annual fee of
$4,000, and the Lead Director was paid an annual fee of $4,000. In addition, the Company paid to
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, a director of the Company, an industry expert fee of $6,000 during the year
ended December 31, 2010. Jerry C. Atkin, Chairman of the Board and an employee of the Company,
received no compensation for his service on the Board.
Stock Awards
Each non-employee director receives a stock award annually. On February 3, 2010, each of the
non-employee directors received an award of 3,451 shares of Common Stock, representing $50,000 of
value based on the closing price of the Common Stock on the date of award. The Company did not
grant stock options to its non-employee directors in 2010.
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