Continental CEO to forego pay, bonuses until airline turns profit

Now that United and Continental are marketing partners and it is obvious they are deepening thier ties (and the airline differences are becoming vividly clear), I hope United's CEO takes notice to this gesture. It has always irked me that airlines are crying "no profit, raise fares, fees" and find ways to milk every penny from travelers and travel agencies but yet the airline management are as well paid as all the investment bankers that became addicted to government bailout money. (can you say economic freebasing?)

By Ann Keeton Jan 04, 2010
CHICAGO - Continental Airlines Inc.'s new chief executive, Jeffrey Smisek, said Monday he won't take a salary or an annual bonus until the Houston airline records a full-year profit.

In a letter to employees, Smisek said that "I am not asking you or anyone else to reduce their pay. What I am asking is that you join me in making Continental profitable again."

According to a filing Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Smisek's annual salary, as of Jan. 1, 2010, is $730,000. The filing said Smisek's retirement and stock purchase plans "will be impacted by his salary and annual bonus waiver."

Along with other major U.S. airlines, Continental is expected to report a loss for 2009, as the recession sharply cut passenger traffic last year. Going into 2010, air traffic is slowly recovering, but the price of fuel, the single- biggest expense for airlines, is on the rise.

Executive compensation has been a bone of contention at some other carriers, where rank-and-file employees gave up salary and benefits earlier in the past decade to keep financially weak airlines flying.

Smisek, who has been president of Continental, took over as chairman and CEO following the resignation of Larry Kellner, who left the airline industry at the end of last year.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires