United CEO forgoes bonus following series of PR nightmares

Oscar Munoz, Chief Executive Officer, United Airlines, speaks during the 2017 Aviation Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber Of Commerce in Washington, D.C., on March 2, 2017. Photo By Kristoffer Tripplaar *** Please Use Credit from Credit Field ***(Sipa via AP Images)

After a particularly rough year, United Airlines CEO has decided to forgo his 2017 bonus.

According to Reuters, Oscar Munoz asked not to be given his performance-based 2017 bonus payment, and the airline has slashed other executive bonuses by 20 to 30 per cent as part of a program designed to tie compensation more directly to improved customer satisfaction.

And look, we get it.

They had the whole Dr. Dao incident last year where a passenger was violently removed from a flight after an overbooking incident.

Then this year there was the tragic death of a French Bulldog after being placed in an overhead bin which was followed by a string of misplaced dogs on two other United flights.

“I felt it was important to send a message about the culture of accountability and integrity that we are building here as a United team,” Munoz said in a letter to employees, according to Reuters.

“We had some incredible successes in 2017 but also some setbacks.”

The airline also announced two board members, Chairman Robert Milton and director Laurence Simmons would step down.

Reuters reports United gave no reason for the moves and have declined to elaborate.

Last year, the CEO’s total compensation was $9.56 million US (about $12,624,458 AUD) on top of his base salary of $1.25 million ($1,650,687 AUD).

So we imagine skipping this year’s won’t be a HUGE financial setback.

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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