Mel Sharples
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2004
- Posts
- 313
The following article is from today's edition of the Minneapolis StarTribune.
Okay... somebody help me out with this one. How in the HELL is Foley getting paid this much??? Since he has been at the helm of Mesaba, we have lost more routes than we have gained, lost more aircraft than we have gained, and taken on a sinking ship in Big Sky, which has yet to turn a profit. In an era where airlines are trying to cut and save like mad to stay afloat, this clown gets a raise and a SIGNING BONUS. Is he for real???
By the way, he used to read this message board to see what his pilots really thought of him. So, Paul, if you are reading, you are a THIEF if you take this money. We all take it in the shorts to save a dime and help to "grow" the company, and you get a raise for doing what exactly?
CEO's are ruining this industry.
________________________________________________________
4 more years for MAIR chief
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune October 26, 2004 MAIR1026
Paul Foley, the chief executive of Mesaba Airlines' parent company, has signed a new four-year employment contract that includes a $500,000 signing bonus.
Foley's new contract maintains his $350,000 base salary, and he is eligible to earn annual bonuses of up to $350,000. In the fiscal year that ended in March, Foley, the CEO and president of MAIR Holdings Inc., received $700,000 in salary and bonus payments. That was $200,000 more than the cash compensation received by Richard Anderson, the CEO of Northwest Airlines, in 2003. Northwest is about 20 times larger than MAIR Holdings. In 2003, Anderson also received restricted stock valued at $1.9 million, which was scheduled to vest over three years.
Anderson had to surrender stock awards when he resigned as CEO effective Oct. 1 of this year.
The salaries of Anderson and his successor, Doug Steenland, were frozen by Congress for 12 months beginning in April 2003 after lawmakers approved federal aid to major airlines. Steenland, Northwest's president, and Anderson both took $45,000 pay cuts for the first quarter of this year to ensure that they did not exceed a federal cap on cash compensation. Neither executive received a bonus in 2003, and each earned a base salary of $500,000.
Similar restrictions did not apply to airline executives at regional airlines, such as Eagan-based Mesaba, which flies exclusively for Northwest. Northwest sets Mesaba's schedule and fares and takes the risk on fuel prices.
Foley's new contract with Mesaba's parent company, which also includes retention bonuses and an annual living expense of up to $75,000, comes as Mesaba is trying to negotiate a new contract with its mechanics.
"They are more interested in keeping Paul than their mechanics. All we hear in negotiations is how bad things are," Wade Slagle, a veteran Mesaba mechanic and spokesman for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, said Monday. "It's pretty darned hypocritical to be telling us that we've got to buckle down and save money, and we are losing jobs right and left."
MAIR spokesman Jon Austin said the contract, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, "speaks for itself and reflects the value that the board places on Paul's continued service to the company."
In the SEC filing, MAIR said: "The agreement will allow the company to maintain leadership stability during a period when the company and its operating subsidiaries will continue to face significant challenges, as they explore long-term growth strategies and negotiate contract extensions with Northwest Airlines Inc. and the company's vendors under uncertain industry conditions."
The contract also calls for Foley to receive a $100,000 "vesting retention bonus" on the second anniversary of the contract, as well as $100,000 on the third anniversary and $200,000 on the fourth anniversary.
The MAIR proxy filed in July shows that Foley, who commutes to a home in Connecticut, received $73,914 in living and travel expenses in fiscal 2004.
Foley, who is in his early 50s, has been the CEO of MAIR Holdings since September 2002. MAIR has two subsidiaries -- Mesaba Airlines and Big Sky Airlines. Foley previously served for three years as the top executive of Mesaba.
Mesaba provided all of MAIR's net income of $4.7 million in fiscal 2004, which ended on March 31. Montana-based Big Sky generated operating revenue of $16.5 million and operating expenses of $20.1 million. In the last fiscal year, MAIR had revenue of $449 million.
Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad is chairman of MAIR Holdings, and he received $300,000 in compensation for serving as chairman for fiscal 2004. Raymond Zehr and Donald Benson, two veteran executives for Pohlad companies, make up two-thirds of the MAIR Holdings compensation committee, according to the proxy. The third member is Pierson Grieve, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Airports Commission.
Northwest owns 29 percent of MAIR Holdings stock, and Northwest CEO Steenland and Mickey Foret, former Northwest CFO, sit on the MAIR Holdings board. MAIR Holdings stock closed Monday at $8.32 per share, down 2 cents.
Okay... somebody help me out with this one. How in the HELL is Foley getting paid this much??? Since he has been at the helm of Mesaba, we have lost more routes than we have gained, lost more aircraft than we have gained, and taken on a sinking ship in Big Sky, which has yet to turn a profit. In an era where airlines are trying to cut and save like mad to stay afloat, this clown gets a raise and a SIGNING BONUS. Is he for real???
By the way, he used to read this message board to see what his pilots really thought of him. So, Paul, if you are reading, you are a THIEF if you take this money. We all take it in the shorts to save a dime and help to "grow" the company, and you get a raise for doing what exactly?
CEO's are ruining this industry.
________________________________________________________
4 more years for MAIR chief
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune October 26, 2004 MAIR1026
Paul Foley, the chief executive of Mesaba Airlines' parent company, has signed a new four-year employment contract that includes a $500,000 signing bonus.
Foley's new contract maintains his $350,000 base salary, and he is eligible to earn annual bonuses of up to $350,000. In the fiscal year that ended in March, Foley, the CEO and president of MAIR Holdings Inc., received $700,000 in salary and bonus payments. That was $200,000 more than the cash compensation received by Richard Anderson, the CEO of Northwest Airlines, in 2003. Northwest is about 20 times larger than MAIR Holdings. In 2003, Anderson also received restricted stock valued at $1.9 million, which was scheduled to vest over three years.
Anderson had to surrender stock awards when he resigned as CEO effective Oct. 1 of this year.
The salaries of Anderson and his successor, Doug Steenland, were frozen by Congress for 12 months beginning in April 2003 after lawmakers approved federal aid to major airlines. Steenland, Northwest's president, and Anderson both took $45,000 pay cuts for the first quarter of this year to ensure that they did not exceed a federal cap on cash compensation. Neither executive received a bonus in 2003, and each earned a base salary of $500,000.
Similar restrictions did not apply to airline executives at regional airlines, such as Eagan-based Mesaba, which flies exclusively for Northwest. Northwest sets Mesaba's schedule and fares and takes the risk on fuel prices.
Foley's new contract with Mesaba's parent company, which also includes retention bonuses and an annual living expense of up to $75,000, comes as Mesaba is trying to negotiate a new contract with its mechanics.
"They are more interested in keeping Paul than their mechanics. All we hear in negotiations is how bad things are," Wade Slagle, a veteran Mesaba mechanic and spokesman for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, said Monday. "It's pretty darned hypocritical to be telling us that we've got to buckle down and save money, and we are losing jobs right and left."
MAIR spokesman Jon Austin said the contract, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, "speaks for itself and reflects the value that the board places on Paul's continued service to the company."
In the SEC filing, MAIR said: "The agreement will allow the company to maintain leadership stability during a period when the company and its operating subsidiaries will continue to face significant challenges, as they explore long-term growth strategies and negotiate contract extensions with Northwest Airlines Inc. and the company's vendors under uncertain industry conditions."
The contract also calls for Foley to receive a $100,000 "vesting retention bonus" on the second anniversary of the contract, as well as $100,000 on the third anniversary and $200,000 on the fourth anniversary.
The MAIR proxy filed in July shows that Foley, who commutes to a home in Connecticut, received $73,914 in living and travel expenses in fiscal 2004.
Foley, who is in his early 50s, has been the CEO of MAIR Holdings since September 2002. MAIR has two subsidiaries -- Mesaba Airlines and Big Sky Airlines. Foley previously served for three years as the top executive of Mesaba.
Mesaba provided all of MAIR's net income of $4.7 million in fiscal 2004, which ended on March 31. Montana-based Big Sky generated operating revenue of $16.5 million and operating expenses of $20.1 million. In the last fiscal year, MAIR had revenue of $449 million.
Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad is chairman of MAIR Holdings, and he received $300,000 in compensation for serving as chairman for fiscal 2004. Raymond Zehr and Donald Benson, two veteran executives for Pohlad companies, make up two-thirds of the MAIR Holdings compensation committee, according to the proxy. The third member is Pierson Grieve, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Airports Commission.
Northwest owns 29 percent of MAIR Holdings stock, and Northwest CEO Steenland and Mickey Foret, former Northwest CFO, sit on the MAIR Holdings board. MAIR Holdings stock closed Monday at $8.32 per share, down 2 cents.
