The Latest Breaking News from Bob Jordan

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan pocketed a 75% pay and compensation increase in his first year on the job, a year that ended in an epic debacle as the carrier’s operations melted down during the holidays.

Three months after a travel meltdown plagued Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the carrier is rolling out what it hopes to be its redemption: a three-part plan to boost operations.

Southwest Airlines’ top executives say the company’s technology, staffing and scheduling plans didn’t fail in late December, even after a holiday meltdown in which 16,700 flights were canceled and the carrier forced the shutdown of two-thirds of its operations.

“While I’m not proud of what happened, I am very proud of our people," Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said.

The Department of Transportation says it is looking into the airline's flight scheduling practices and will hold it accountable for refunds. The 16,700 canceled flights cost Southwest $800 million.

U.S. Department of Transportation officials are investigating Dallas-based Southwest Airlines over whether the carrier’s holiday meltdown that stranded millions of travelers was caused by overscheduling flights.

Southwest Airlines is sending millions of dollars in ‘gratitude pay’ to workers after the historical meltdown that led to 16,700 flight cancellations in late December.

Southwest Airlines faced another potential crisis just two weeks after its holiday meltdown as the FAA shut down all flights in the U.S. for nearly two hours last Wednesday.

Southwest Airlines has hired an outside firm to figure out what it needs to prevent another cancellation meltdown like the one over the holidays and “everything that we need to do to mitigate risk is on the table,” CEO Bob Jordan said Thursday.