Not at the top anyway.
When Jeffrey Misner steps down as Continental’s chief financial officer on on Aug. 31, he pockets a bonus of nearly $3 million. Here’s his full retirement agreement filed with Securities and Exchange Commission.
This will replace stock options and keep him from working for another airline.
Also, the airline has agreed to give him a free parking place for life at Jacksonville airport, as long as he lives within 200 miles of the airport, and Continental continues to fly from there.
In related news, Continental has announced increased service fees for travelers redeeming and changing mileage awards. That includes the tripling of a fee for changing award travel or redepositing miles, from $50 to $150.
Additionally, passengers are already being charged $25 for a second bag, and after August 17, 2008, will have to pay for their tickets at the time they make reservations, instead of having a 24 hour hold on the booking.
But hey, someone has to pay for Mr. Misner’s $3 million bonus, and his free parking space for life.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Continental’s CEO Larry Kellner and President Jeff Smisek, quietly and without boasting in the media, gave up their entire salaries and bonuses this year. This airline is the ONLY legacy carrier whose management has made concessions at the same time as the workers during this financial crisis. While that may not make a difference in the bottom line, at least it’s an effort to share the pain. Of all the airlines out there, the upper management of Continental seems to actually “get it” and this is evident on the faces and in the attitudes of the front-line employees. I have flown around 200+ segments on Continental every year for the last 8 consecutive years not in international first class but mostly on more regional jets than I care to count. The gate and flight crews are among the happiest and most courteous in the industry.
When my father retired from Lucent Technology at the height of the dot-com crash, he still received a nice retirement package despite company losses. Know why? Because businesses reward years of loyal service. This isn’t a ridiculiously inflated anual non-performance bonus given out when there are cuts being made everywhwere else, this is a retirement bonus that was probably written into Jeff Misner’s contract years ago.
It’s easy to criticize the legacy carriers for all the dumb moves many of them have made recently but Contiental should be looked up to as a good example.