Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air 2010 Annual Report Download - page 33

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PROPOSAL 2.
RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF THE COMPANY’S
INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
The Audit Committee has selected KPMG
LLP (“KPMG”) as the Company’s
independent accountants for fiscal year
2011, and the Board is asking stockholders
to ratify that selection. Although current law,
rules, and regulations, as well as the charter
of the Audit Committee, require the Audit
Committee to engage, retain, and supervise
the independent accountants, the Board
considers the selection of the independent
accountants to be an important matter of
stockholder concern and is submitting the
selection of KPMG for ratification by
stockholders as a matter of good corporate
practice.
The affirmative vote of holders of a majority
of the shares of common stock represented
at the meeting entitled to vote on the
proposal is required to ratify the selection of
KPMG as the Company’s independent
accountant for the current fiscal year.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS THAT YOU VOTE FOR THE
RATIFICATION OF THE COMPANY’S INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS.
PROPOSAL 3.
ADVISORY VOTE REGARDING THE COMPENSATION
OF THE COMPANY’S NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
The Company is providing its stockholders
with the opportunity to cast a non-binding,
advisory vote on the compensation of the
Company’s named executive officers as
disclosed pursuant to the SEC’s executive
compensation disclosure rules and set forth
in this proxy statement (including in the
compensation tables and the narrative
discussion accompanying those tables as
well as in the Compensation Discussion and
Analysis).
As described more fully in the Compensation
Discussion and Analysis section beginning
on page 46 of this proxy statement, the
structure of the Company’s executive
compensation program is designed to
compensate executives appropriately and
competitively and to drive superior
performance. For named executive officers,
a high percentage of total direct
compensation is variable and tied to the
success of the Company because these are
the senior leaders primarily responsible for
the overall execution of the Company’s
strategy. The Company’s strategic goals are
reflected in its incentive-based executive
compensation programs so that executives’
interests are aligned with stockholder
interests. Executive compensation is
designed to be internally equitable,
reflective of the business challenges facing
the Company, and scaled to the industry.
The Compensation Discussion and Analysis
section of this proxy statement describes
the Company’s executive compensation
programs and the decisions made by the
Compensation Committee in 2010 in more
detail. Highlights of these executive
compensation programs include the
following:
•Base Salary
In general, for the Named Executive
Officers, the Committee targets base
salary levels at the 25th percentile
relative to the Company’s peer group
with the opportunity to earn market-level
compensation through short- and long-
ŠProxy
13