Who would you rather work for???

[Truckdriver]

AMR Corp. quantifies payouts that angered unions
Fri Apr 21, 2006 4:36 PM ET


NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - Three American Airlines executives reaped payouts of over $1.5 million each from a stock-based incentive plan which angered the top U.S. carrier's unions earlier this year, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.
The existence of the payouts had previously been disclosed but the effect on top executives' pay checks had never been quantified. The incentive plan outraged unions who had agreed to $1.8 billion in pay cuts in 2003 to avert a threatened bankrutpcy filing.

American, a unit of AMR Corp (AMR.N: Quote, Profile, Research), agreed earlier this month to change the payouts from all-cash to 80 percent stock to ease labor concerns. The unions have filed a grievance over the issue with an arbitrator who has yet to rule.
AMR officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The airline has said the payouts could total some $70 million.
The airline's executive vice president of marketing, Daniel Garton, received a payout worth $1.9 million under the plan, which was bolstered by the performance of AMR's shares, which more than doubled last year.
That boosted Garton's total compensation to $2.65 million.
Gary Kennedy, the airline's chief compliance officer, and Robert Reding, its senior vice president of technical operations, received $1.55 million each under the plan.
AMR's Chief Executive Gerard Arpey did not participate in the incentive plan. His 2005 compensation totaled $949,830, including $327,960 in restricted stock awards, up from $821,098 in 2004, according to the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
While Arpey's salary was moderate compared with some of the other executives at AMR, it still dwarfed the 2005 pay of David Neeleman, founder and chief executive of JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU.O: Quote, Profile, Research).
According to another SEC filing on Friday, Neeleman was paid $200,000 in salary and received zero bonus in 2005, a year in which the discount carrier posted its first annual loss in several years.

I would feel alot more comfortable working for Neeleman than any of the other crooks running a US airline. And for all of those people who think Virgin is going to run jetBlue out of business, the only thing Sir Richard Branson is going to do is give Fred Reid and Don Carty another chance to run a good company into the ground and steal millions of dollars in the process. A company that is run by a guy like Neeleman will always succeed. jetBlue will be around longer than anyone can imagine and it will become bigger than ever believed if it has a guy like Neeleman at the helm.

 

[JT34]

And don't forget that Neeleman donates all of that 200K salary to the JetBlue internal fund to help out JetBlue crewmembers in times of need. He matches the amount donated by the rest of the airline crewmembers and that amount has more than surpassed 200K the past couple of years.

 

[capt. megadeth]

Now with all the school shootings that you hear about, can someone tell me why one of these schmucks has not gotten shot by a disgruntled airline employee yet? Oh yeah, I know why.....they spent their bonus on bodyguards and bullet proof glass.

 

[AlbieF15]

Mega--I'd edit that post if I were you. You don't want to see that post in a court case down the road.

 

[Hutchman]

Don't forget about Jetblue's #2 and #3 man that each cashed in over 12 million last year. It's all about the stock options. Look closer at the details..........250k + stock equal to 50x his earnings. Smoke and mirrors boys...........................

This year Barger has sold 28,125 shares a MONTH!(on top of the $12m worth last year, hardly underpaid)

 

[Truckdriver]

Don't forget about Jetblue's #2 and #3 man that each cashed in over 12 million last year. It's all about the stock options. Look closer at the details..........250k + stock equal to 50x his earnings. Smoke and mirrors boys...........................

This year Barger has sold 28,125 shares a MONTH!(on top of the $12m worth last year, hardly underpaid)

All of that stock was given to them in 1999 when they took the risk of leaving great jobs to work for a startup carrier that many thought would not last a year. It has nothing to do with them taking money and current options from the company. If these guys were crooks like most airline execs, they would not give back bonuses and donate salaries to workers in need. You do have to admit that the guys running JBLU are different than all other airline execs. Wouldn't you feel alot more comfortable working for these guys rather than for Kellner? What has he done to show employees he cares about them other than making lots of money himself while his airline loses money and his employees take paycuts?

 

[Stifler's Mom]

Mega--I'd edit that post if I were you. You don't want to see that post in a court case down the road.

Funny thing is, that's one of the nicer things she's had to say.